LD Alex Vlasic (2019, 43rd, CHI)

[sennysensen]

I'd never heard of Vlasic before last night. Watched the Chicago Toronto game, and he looked really good! Bright future ahead. I like how he can defend well at such a young age, which is rare.

 

[ello]

Vlasic is who Cheveldayoff thought Stanley would become

 

[Darkstar]

He's been solid and steady, so far. A pleasant surprise, for sure.

 

[BKarchitect]

Had a concussion which knocked him out of a few games but was back Sunday, playing nearly 18 minutes with a +1 and 6 shots in a 4-2 loss.

I think Vlasic is gonna start getting some more love here with a bit more track record. He’s been a sneaky underrated rookie to start the year and on a trash Blackhawks team has been a stabilizer on the defense.

His like is 9 GP, 3 Pts, +5 and over 18 minutes per game (well over if you take out the game he got knocked out of early). He’s huge, not a sloth for his size, seems to have the right balance of aggressiveness and control and actually has some pretty good offensive instincts IMO. I think he may a top four guy in the making for Chicago.

Tons of great rookie blueliners this year - Minty, Hughes, Faber, LaCombe, Korchinski etc. I think Vlasic is another.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Hawks D problems at this point are not kids with Vlasic looking great, Kaiser looking solid and Korchinski despite occasional rookie mistakes looking like he belongs

It's the god-awful vets with Murphy and Tinordi playing at level of ECHL replacement players, Zaitsev looking every bit the part of AHLer at this point and Jones up and down play

 

[TLEH]

BWC mostly right. I would disagree about Zaitsev, think he's been everything you look for in a 7th D.

Tinordi has been awful. Murphy similar.

 

[CallMeShaft]

As of a few hours ago when I looked, Vlasic was tied for the league lead in takeaways per 60 for defenders with Makar (minimum 5 games played).

Turning into a real gamer.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

One of just a handful of bright spots for Hawks

Kid has established himself as part of Hawks top 4 going forward

 

[LeProspector]

One of just a handful of bright spots for Hawks

Kid has established himself as part of Hawks top 4 going forward

Really. i wonder why he slipped so far then? I rember he was extremely hyped as a kid.

 

[gifted88]

Really. i wonder why he slipped so far then? I rember he was extremely hyped as a kid.

There was some hype for him for sure, but I think there were questions of offensive upside.

 

[Infant of Spain]

Scott Wheeler
5-7

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Really. i wonder why he slipped so far then? I rember he was extremely hyped as a kid.

Not really. He was huge with an okay enough puck game from the NTDP, so that guarantees like top 2 rounds, but he was very bad at hockey. A real project. Minimal offense, even if he can move pucks. Didn't play defense well, and his skating wasn't good enough at his size to compensate for a guy who was always behind the play.

Some players figure it out. He wasn't good, and now he's much better. Kudos to him. I didn't think he had the goods.

He should also give some hope to the Wings fans that are asking why they took Brady Cleveland second round. Similar players at the same age.