Marc-Edouard Vlasic has been practicing since mid-November, but according to the San Jose Sharks, there’s still no timeline for his return to action.
Vlasic missed the beginning of training camp with what he described as an upper back injury. In late September, he started skating on his own.
When the San Jose Sharks submitted their opening night roster on Oct. 7, Vlasic was designated as a Non-Roster player, meaning that he didn’t have to be counted on the 23-man roster.
His $7 million AAV, part of an eight-year, $56 million contract inked in 2017, still counted against the cap, but the rebuilding Sharks have plenty of cap space.
“I’d say within two weeks I’m back, for sure,” Marc-Edouard Vlasic said on Oct. 13.
Vlasic didn’t re-join practice until Nov. 18. Usually though, that would be a sign that he was close to coming back to action.
Vlasic and Thompson skated together, extra pairing
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) November 18, 2024
Not so in this case. Vlasic has been a regular participant in practice since, but his Non-Roster status hasn’t changed in the last month and a half.
“He’s building up. Obviously, the conditioning was the big thing, missing training camp,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said on Wednesday. “He’s skating a lot here as of late, so I think it’s getting closer and closer. But that was a big thing. It’s getting over the conditioning hump.”
Going to the AHL on a conditioning assignment is possible — Vlasic hasn’t played there since Jan. 2008, when he appeared in one game for the Worcester Sharks — but that hasn’t happened yet.
“We haven’t got into that,” Warsofsky said. “That’s a Mike [Grier] question.”
The San Jose Sharks, essentially, don’t need to make a roster decision on Vlasic, or any other players affected by his inclusion on the roster, long as the veteran isn’t officially on the roster. The Sharks could also place Vlasic on IR, except he doesn’t appear to be injured.
For example, if the Sharks were to activate Vlasic for their currently full 23-man roster tomorrow, they would likely need to send a waiver-exempt player like Shakir Mukhamadullin down, or place the injured Jake Walman or Carl Grundstrom on IR.
“We’ve talked to Marc, and he understands the situation and where we’re at, what we expect, and where he needs to get to, to play,” Warsofsky said. “We’ve seen a better Marc the last few days.”
But that said, there’s still no timeline for Vlasic’s return, with half a season in the books.
San Jose Hockey Now made a request to speak with Vlasic on Wednesday, but the Sharks declined the request, citing team policy. The organization doesn’t usually make IR or non-roster players available to the media.
Reading between the lines, do the San Jose Sharks still think that Vlasic can help them?
“He’s been in this league a long time, right? He’s one of the better guys at shutting down teams’ top players when he was really in his prime, and I thought he did some good things last year, he had some good stretches again,” Warsofsky said.
Vlasic won a gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Olympics and 2016 World Cup and was considered the world’s top defensive defenseman then. Over the last four seasons though, the 37-year-old has been used mostly on San Jose’s bottom pairing.
And the Sharks don’t seem in a hurry to bring their long-time blueliner back.
Vlasic’s contract expires after the 2025-26 campaign.
It has been over a month since Nashville Predators defenseman, Jarred Tinordi, suffered an upper-body injury that has kept him sidelined. While he has been practicing with the team for several weeks now, fans are eagerly awaiting his return to the lineup.
Tinordi has been skating with the team during practices and morning skates, but has yet to be cleared for game action. The team has been cautious with his recovery, wanting to ensure that he is fully healed before returning to the ice.
With the Predators currently battling for a playoff spot, Tinordi’s presence on the blue line could provide a much-needed boost to the team’s defensive depth. Fans are hopeful that he will be back in the lineup soon, but the exact timeline for his return remains uncertain.
As Tinordi continues to work towards getting back on the ice, fans can only wait and speculate on when they will see him back in action. Stay tuned for updates on his status and potential return date.
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