Fistfullofbeer
Moderator
Yep. Its kind of hard to understand why he is trying to do this. I mean he has never been an offensive force in the NHL level. Trying to re-invent yourself at this stage in your career and try to play like Karlsson or Burns is going to only hurt the team. When one of Karlsson/Burns pinches or pushes offensive play they have the talent and awareness to make something happen. When Vlasic does it, its pretty much a turnover waiting to happen. And if that leaves just Braun to bail us out and play 1-on-2's we are pretty much doomed.It would be Heed short term with outside chances of DeSimone or Roy taking the spot. I think Vlasic has been the biggest disappointment defensively. He had been waning in his effectiveness the last couple years but this year with things ramping up offensively, I would've thought he would've taken it upon himself to be more of a shutdown guy but he's looking more like trying to join in the offensive festivities. Problem is he doesn't have the skills or awareness needed to really be that good at that aspect of the game to where it doesn't impact his defensive game. He needs to reel it in and I think a lot of the other defensive woes for the team will work themselves out.
I remember a few years back when Vlasic played those 1-on-2's like a champ and broke them up regularly. This year he has not even been in position to play them because he has been in the offensive zone. If he plays to his strength, then yeah, like you said a lot of our D issues will work themselves out.