Prospect Info: Alex Vlasic, Defence, USNTDP, 43rd overall (2019)

[pvr]

I think regardless of whether Vlasic is a first or second pair defenseman, he’s going to be the shutdown guy on that pair, he will be the guy getting the tough minutes against top scoring lines, and he will be on the first PK unit. He already is, and he’s excelling.

The only thing that would keep him from being on the first D pair would be if Korchinski is so offensively gifted that he keeps Vlasic on the second pair.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

imagine stan and kelly figuring out defense after the window had mostly closed...

 

[Styles]

Can’t we all just get along?

 

[Dead Meat]

Vlasic been great this season but before you throw bank to him, remember he wasn't very good last season. He wasn't in NHL and few games he was he didn't deserve to be.

He also busted his butt in the offseason and put on some legit muscle...added like an inch to his neck circumference.

 

[BobbyJet]

OK, I had never seen Vlasic play before this season but I was somewhat perplexed that folks were on his case from game one. They were seeing something that wasn't there. And now I see that there are a few people who try to downplay his progress. I don't see any reason why he would suddenly regress. I say, sign him now for as long a term as possible.

 

[TLEH]

Three noteworthy young defensemen facing similarly grueling levels of competition to Seider: Chicago’s Alex Vlasic, Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson and Montreal’s Kaiden Guhle.

They look like serious players on the rise as they’re not only taking on tough minutes, they’re thriving in them. They are all well above average in relative expected goals percentage this season with Vlasic at plus-0.44, Sanderson at plus-0.32 and Guhle at plus-0.23. Vlasic’s numbers are especially impressive given the dearth of talent he has to work with in Chicago and because he faces the toughest competition in the league on average. The fact the Blackhawks have outscored their opponents 30-25 with Vlasic on the ice this year is nothing short of miraculous.

Blurb from Doms article about Seiders struggles and defensive zone usage.

 

[pvr]

Have a half season ticket package down low. Aside from Bedard, Vlasic has been the player I watch most. He’s also the most impressive player not named Bedard.

He’s always matched against the best players. In my estimation, he’s a defensive leaning 1-2 dman right now. When he adds another 10-20# of muscle over the next couple of years with the longer offseason, he will be even more effective…beastly. Might even develop more offense. Very nice passing.

Pair him with a developed Rinzel (Levshunov, Yakemhuk…), and that’s the first pair for the next decade. Korchinski can be second pair and pp1, and concentrate more on offense. It’s almost unfortunate that he isn’t eligible for Rockford, where he would be forced to learn defense in all situations.

 

[clydesdale line]

Blackhawks’ Alex Vlasic eating pucks, not bread, as he navigates NHL with celiac disease

The 22-year-old defenseman has not been able to eat gluten since he was diagnosed at 13, which was tougher last season with Rockford but hasn’t been a big challenge this season with the Hawks.

chicago.suntimes.com

Great article per usual with Pope about Vlasic. Had no idea he had that disease.

 

[CanadianHawks]

Could be our version of Pelech or Slavin. He’s a top pairing D already. Biggest development for this team in 2023/24.

We haven’t developed a D and reaped the rewards since Hammer.

 

[hockeydoug]

Blackhawks’ Alex Vlasic eating pucks, not bread, as he navigates NHL with celiac disease

The 22-year-old defenseman has not been able to eat gluten since he was diagnosed at 13, which was tougher last season with Rockford but hasn’t been a big challenge this season with the Hawks.

chicago.suntimes.com

Great article per usual with Pope about Vlasic. Had no idea he had that disease.

Glad Pope put this out. Poor guy has to travel with a pile of food in his bag everywhere. I'm sure some of the mangers help out.

Kakko is a celiac too... and several other players. I can't even get my head around how hard it would be to travel in lower leagues managing Celiac.

Some people don't even feel the symptoms but a "bomb" may go off in their intestines with the smallest invisible particle. "Gluten free" on a menu is not guaranteed depending on the kitchen. Cross contamination is everywhere and micrograms trigger reactions, we just don't know what the reactions are all the time.

At some point, if we haven't already, we will see some off days from Vlasic because of symptoms but we're more likely to see the problems of not being able to eat normally because of catering errors, the inability to eat normal because of travel delays, and several other common events. I only have to live with two, and we get to control what we eat almost everyday. One is sick for 3 days with a speck of flour on anything, the other can eat a roll without showing visible symptoms (but it nukes his insides).

Fortunately, Hawks are probably on the short list of franchises willing to spend all the extra nickels to make sure he's able to eat well and stay included in at least most team events. If Vlasic is a core player, I do hope they get another celiac or two on the team, at least the 7d and 13f or something.

 

[pvr]

Sudden onset at age 13. Something happened to change his gut flora. Should look into a fecal transplant. Shows great promise for treating diseases such as celiac, gluten intolerance, Crohn’s disease, others.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

Glad Pope put this out. Poor guy has to travel with a pile of food in his bag everywhere. I'm sure some of the mangers help out.

Kakko is a celiac too... and several other players. I can't even get my head around how hard it would be to travel in lower leagues managing Celiac.

Some people don't even feel the symptoms but a "bomb" may go off in their intestines with the smallest invisible particle. "Gluten free" on a menu is not guaranteed depending on the kitchen. Cross contamination is everywhere and micrograms trigger reactions, we just don't know what the reactions are all the time.

At some point, if we haven't already, we will see some off days from Vlasic because of symptoms but we're more likely to see the problems of not being able to eat normally because of catering errors, the inability to eat normal because of travel delays, and several other common events. I only have to live with two, and we get to control what we eat almost everyday. One is sick for 3 days with a speck of flour on anything, the other can eat a roll without showing visible symptoms (but it nukes his insides).

Fortunately, Hawks are probably on the short list of franchises willing to spend all the extra nickels to make sure he's able to eat well and stay included in at least most team events. If Vlasic is a core player, I do hope they get another celiac or two on the team, at least the 7d and 13f or something.

They've got a team of dieticians. I'd be surprised if he doesn't travel with meals provided by the team.

 

[giza]

Sudden onset at age 13. Something happened to change his gut flora. Should look into a fecal transplant. Shows great promise for treating diseases such as celiac, gluten intolerance, Crohn’s disease, others.

Over use of anti-biotics can compromise gut flora. Should be taking both probiotics and digestive enzymes to assist.

 

[Malaka]

Could be our version of Pelech or Slavin. He’s a top pairing D already. Biggest development for this team in 2023/24.

We haven’t developed a D and reaped the rewards since Hammer.

Hate (read: love) to be cynical but an argument could be made that it’s nature over nurture of us developing him… his cousin is a pretty ok player yknow

 

[hockeydoug]

They've got a team of dieticians. I'd be surprised if he doesn't travel with meals provided by the team.

Dieticians and physically getting the food are two very distinct hurdles. He'll know what he can do and not do better than the dieticians more often than not I would guess. It's not really the prepared meals by the team staff or even the catered ones that will be the issue, any kinks with their process have probably been ironed out last year. It's all the other stuff and the social aspect of being with the team that has extra challenges.

We don't know how sensitive he is either.

As implied before, the Hawks are probably as good as anybody in helping out. It's just going to be hard for him at times no matter what. It does get better every year, but it will probably be another 10-15 years before the whole industry is adept at understanding how to manage those customers across the board.

Sudden onset at age 13. Something happened to change his gut flora. Should look into a fecal transplant. Shows great promise for treating diseases such as celiac, gluten intolerance, Crohn’s disease, others.

Hate (read: love) to be cynical but an argument could be made that it’s nature over nurture of us developing him… his cousin is a pretty ok player yknow

Genes. It's hereditary more than anything else and verified by gene testing. Almost all Celiac's have a certain gene and the rest have a 2nd one. Often tied to people with a history of autoimmune diseases in the families as well.

 

[Malaka]

Dieticians and physically getting the food are two very distinct hurdles. He'll know what he can do and not do better than the dieticians more often than not I would guess. It's not really the prepared meals by the team staff or even the catered ones that will be the issue, any kinks with their process have probably been ironed out last year. It's all the other stuff and the social aspect of being with the team that has extra challenges.

We don't know how sensitive he is either.

As implied before, the Hawks are probably as good as anybody in helping out. It's just going to be hard for him at times no matter what. It does get better every year, but it will probably be another 10-15 years before the whole industry is adept at understanding how to manage those customers across the board.


Genes. It's hereditary more than anything else and verified by gene testing. Almost all Celiac's have a certain gene and the rest have a 2nd one. Often tied to people with a history of autoimmune diseases in the families as well.

It could be a gene that’s responsive to the environment (glyphosate affecting gut lining) but you sound like you know more on the subject.

 

[hockeydoug]

It could be a gene that’s responsive to the environment (glyphosate affecting gut lining) but you sound like you know more on the subject.

I haven't even graduated from the facebook school of medicine.

The specialists say genetics and they've found specific genes in Celiacs.

At the end of the day they don't know medicine, they only practice it so you may be correct.

 

[Malaka]

I haven't even graduated from the facebook school of medicine.

The specialists say genetics and they've found specific genes in Celiacs.

At the end of the day they don't know medicine, they only practice it so you may be correct.

It’s all connected, the difficulty with nutritional science is that studies are correlational, so for something concrete to present hereditarily it does allow for science to declare a link by genetics but that still doesn’t exactly infer causality…

I admit I’m not as fresh as I’d like to be on celiac disease(or the gut microbiome and it’s not much my place relevant to my interests in science etc). You're not wrong, neither would the specialists who practice as clinicians, but for example the gene they’re speaking on might become activated epigenetically(where it might not affect you, but would in your offspring) as an immune response to a homeostatic imbalance from inputs and their environment (e.g. You smoke a pack a day, die of old age, but congrats your kids will be the ones with RA at 40). Celiac is especially relevant though to bacterial flora death and the gut physically being damaged from glyphosate in western diet.

I’m just going hand off the soapbox because I’ll be here all day, but by many accounts it’s the tail wagging the dog where that bacteria in our gut are driving things as complex as cognition and behavior via the vagus nerve/ENS. I have a concern actually even with probiotics and startups which promote dominance of a selective bacteria (or modulating/silencing communication within the enteric nervous system via gene therapy) which might lead to a negative feedback loop that just spirals out of control in populations getting disease as a consequence… it’s playing with fire get off my lawn etc but the point is this is vastly more complicated than a gene that makes people unable to eat bread, shits f***ed feel bad for the kid