Vlasic 2023-2024
A look at Vlasic's first full NHL season.
Stats are from Natural Stat Trick and are even strength unless otherwise noted.
Defenseman Alex Vlasic was one of the most important members of the Blackhawks last season.
In his first full NHL season, Vlasic was ranked as the second-best defensive defenseman in the NHL by the Athletic.
Vlasic proved to be a shutdown defenseman on a terrible roster. He had a -4 rating on a team that had a -111 goal differential.
Offensive flashes were also evident in Alex’s game. He generated scoring chances and goals on the rush.
Last year, Connor Bedard was the obvious focus of, well, everyone. Kevin Korchinski garnered attention as a 19-year-old rookie and a former 1st-round pick. Alex Vlasic, meanwhile, quietly made a strong case for being included in Calder Trophy talks… had he been eligible (his 6th game in the 2022-2023 disqualified him).
With Vlasic locked in for 6 years at $4.6MIL, let’s take a look at Vlasic’s successful 2023-2024 season.
Vlasic
Alex Vlasic gave us a small taste of how his year in Rockford went when he was called up at the end of the 2022-23 season. He looked confident, calm, and better at skating. The expectation for the 2024 season was that we had a decent young defenseman who developed well under Anders Sorensen.
Vlasic met those expectations and blew past them the following season.
The base numbers aren’t eye-popping. However, as with most defensive-minded players, you have to look a little deeper. If anything, his +/- gives you some context when you compare it to the Blackhawks goal differential as a whole. -4 on a team with a -111 goal differential means something.
That -4 looks even more impressive when you consider that Vlasic faced the NHL’s best forwards on a nightly basis. Vlasic led the team in 5v5 on-ice minutes at 1333:36. These weren’t easy shifts.
Vlasic earned the trust of coach Luke Richardson. 49.89% of his shifts started in the Defensive Zone. Alex was consistently placed in positions to defend against the league’s best forwards, starting 229 shifts in the DZ and 302 in the NZ.
Vlasic led the team in takeaways with 60 in all situations. It’s not a surprise considering his ability to utilize his reach. His ability to read plays and smart instincts quickly fizzles out offensive chances. Here’s a compilation from @RizzyNHL’s Twitter.
Alex also led the team in blocked shots, stopping the puck with his body 148 times.
Other than wielding his body like a meat shield, Vlasic is also very effective on breakouts with some notable stretch passes that were effective in generating goals.
Watch him connect with Connor Bedard for a goal.
Of course, there is this memorable breakout pass to Corey Perry.
He’s not perfect, however. He ranked 4th worst in giveaways with 47.
Looking at fancy stats, we can get a better idea of how Vlasic impacted the team defensively. When Vlasic was on the ice, the Hawks faced fewer shot attempts and shots on goal. The Hawks’ Expected Goals For (xGF%) percentage rose by 5.70% to 45.45% when Vlasic was on the ice in even-strength situations.
Now, 45.45% isn’t great. But it shows how Vlasic impacted the team, which was that he made them better.
Consider this. The Hawks faced 29.95 shots on goal per 60 minutes when Vlasic was on the ice. Pretty gross, right?
The Hawks also faced 4.69 fewer shots on goal with Vlasic on the ice. Scoring chances were also down 4.78% and high-danger chances were down 1.9% on the ice.
Offense
At 6’6’’ and 216lbs, the kid can move too. His skating ability begged for improvement early on in his development, but Vlasic has shown that that’s no longer the case. Watch him enter the OZ with the puck and pass to Colin Blackwell.
The kid can move. He logged a total of 7 rush attempts last season and also had a few breakaways that he didn’t finish.
Here’s another shift where Vlasic joins the rush and helps create a goal from Bedard.
Vlasic took 71 shots and generated 9 rebounds. Of his 14 assists, 9 were secondary.
Here’s a great example of one of those secondary assists.
The Blackhawks have a very special player in Alex Vlasic. While he won’t be the Hawks’ No. 1-2 defenseman when they’re competing, he’s going to be an essential piece to the Hawks’ future success. His defensive game is there. What I’m excited about is how fast his offensive game is growing.
The future is bright.
Let’s Go Hawks.