Marc-Édouard Vlasic Speaks Out On Sharks Release, Plans on 20th Season

Marc-Édouard Vlasic Speaks Out On Sharks Release, Plans on 20th Season

Pas Fini. That's one of the headings in a new interview with longtime San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic. Translated: "It's Not Over."

Vlasic is speaking out for the first time after he was waived and bought out by the San Jose Sharks earlier this summer—the only team he's ever known in his 19-year NHL career. He says not only does he want to return for a 20th season in the league, but he wants to show up his former team as well.

I'm motivated to train, find a new team, and put it in the Sharks' face.

"It's clear in his mind that he hasn't reached the end of the road, as his longtime team seems to believe," writes Stephan Cadorette in Le Journal de Quebec about the interview with Vlasic. He "wasn't particularly pleased" with the way the Sharks cut him loose without advance warning after the season.  

Vlasic had an upper-body injury to begin last season, and didn't make his season debut until January 2nd. But the veteran d-man now says he was actually ready to go by the beginning of November, and they held him out for another two months. 

"To be honest, I'm happy," Vlasic said. "I wasn't tempted to go back there for another season. I could say more, but I don't want to leave anyone in the lurch.

"I have a lot more to offer, and they know it, too."

Vlasic says his agent is canvassing the league to see which teams could have interest. 

"I'm a free agent, so I can go anywhere... I don't mind where I play. Vancouver, Buffalo, Florida, Tampa... I'll go wherever someone wants me," he said.

As Eric Stephens wrote in The Athletic at the time of the buyout, "Vlasic is the last link to an era when the Sharks were a postseason staple and made annual pushes to capture the elusive Stanley Cup. He was one of the preeminent shutdown blueliners of his era, a Team Canada fixture and a gold medalist in the 2014 Olympics and 2016 World Cup."

To be sure, the 38-year-old Montreal native is a long ways from those days, but he's obviously still got the drive to get out there for another season and help a team with his leadership and experience. 

"In my mind, retirement isn't there yet."

Photo: © Robert Edwards-Imagn Images