I feel like he is the only player to play the body on defense with any regularity, everyone else just stick or poke checks and then watches as their man gets by or the puck bounces to a teammate.
In my mind, it's Ferraro, Dillon, and Simek who are the guys willing to go hard into the corners to win the one on one puck battles. Burns can do it too but not exactly what he should be doing and Karlsson and Vlasic are either not as physical or not as willing.
Ferraro had quite a bit of edge last night when the game got chippy. I really liked seeing that.
Honestly, the lack of effort from Vlasic makes me want to move on from him rather than Dillon. Moving on from Vlasic is probably the wrong move, and likely impossible move, but it's disappointing because of how good he used to be compared to what he is currently. However, it's pretty clear that Vlasic is starting to shy away from the physical stuff that you need to win one on ones. Like in the last couple of years, it was always Braun getting beat up in the corners while Vlasic was supposedly keeping watch elsewhere.
I just watched last night's game again because I'm apparently a masochist, but I thought Vlasic actually had a pretty good game. He's always been a stick-and-position defender, and he did exactly that. He was tough where he needed to be, and did a really good job of directing the play to the outside. He only looked bad where the rest of the team did, trying to move the puck up from the top of the defensive circles to the opposing blueline. I think he's starting to settle in and get a sense of where Burns and Karlsson are each going to be, but he still doesn't have the poise Ferraro seems to with the puck.
