Veteran Sharks defenseman recalls moment when he realized injury “was pretty bad”

SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said Saturday that the upper-body injury that kept him out all of training camp and the start of the regular season is improving and that he hopes to be available to play again before the end of the month.

Vlasic, now in his 19th NHL season, said the injury is “a lot of the upper back, actually.”

Vlasic couldn’t pinpoint when exactly he started to feel discomfort, but he said, “The plane ride (to the Bay Area) didn’t help, and then skating here, doing the (cardio) test, just waking up the next day, I could feel it.”

Vlasic, 37, then got an MRI on the affected area “and realized it was pretty bad.”

Vlasic said surgery is not required “as of right now,” adding that he’s never experienced an injury like this before.

“I can skate fine, shoot, so it’s just getting back to the cardio, handling the pain, coming back, practicing with the guys, and then playing games,” Vlasic said, “and then seeing how it is after back to backs, after the next day, playing a game.”

Where the left-shot Vlasic fits in once he’s available to play again is unclear. The Sharks now have Mario Ferraro, Jake Walman, and Henry Thrun on their left side and Cody Ceci, Matt Benning, and Jan Rutta on the right.

Still, even if Vlasic isn’t in the lineup right away, history suggests his time will come. For instance, the Sharks had 13 defensemen dress for at least one game last season for various reasons, including injuries.

Vlasic is second on the Sharks’ all-time games played list with 1,296, which is also sixth-most among all active players. He played 57 games last season, missing time mostly as a scratch, and averaged 16:17 in ice time.

Vlasic, entering the seventh year of an eight-year, $56 million contract, sees brighter days ahead for the Sharks and is eager to return considering the infusion of youth, with forwards Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, and the addition of veterans like Tyler Toffoli, Alexander Wennberg, Ceci, and Walman.

The Sharks have missed the playoffs for five consecutive seasons.

“It sucks. I want to be out there,” he said. “Was excited, still am excited, about this group, and it’s unfortunate that I missed all that time.”

Vlasic, like fellow defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin (lower body), has been on the injured/non-roster list, while forwards Thomas Bordeleau (lower body) and Logan Couture (osteitis pubis) are on IR.

Mukhamadullin, injured just before training camp began, appears to be the closest to a return to practice, while Bordeleau, injured early in camp and described recently as being week-to-week, is also making progress. Couture is out indefinitely.

Mukhamadullin, Vlasic, Bordeleau, and veteran defenseman Lucas Carlsson have been skating recently under the tutelage of development coach Mike Ricci. Goalie Yaroslav Askarov was also in that group until last week, when he was deemed healthy and assigned to the Barracuda.

“It’s been good to be back skating, skated this whole week. Before that, took a couple days. So this whole week, I’ve skated more than I have in the last two, three weeks,” Vlasic added. “So it’s nice to be out there with (Mukhamadulin, Bordeleau and Ricci) as well.

“So it’s been feeling OK, and I’m getting better every day.”

The Sharks begin a three-day road trip next week, return home for one game on Sunday against Colorado, then begin a four-game trip through Anaheim, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Utah that ends Oct. 28.

Vlasic, who wants to return to practice “as soon as possible,” hopes to return around that time, if not before.

“I’m working on (cardio) now,” Vlasic said. “Then when I start practicing, it’ll be to get the timing with my teammates, and then once I start skating with the guys, then I’ll be within a couple of days of being able to play.”

“I’d say, within two weeks, I’m back, for sure.”