1. If management told him they would make moves prior to last season to get better, which his comments indicate, and then they didn’t - it’s not unreasonable for him to be surprised. It’s also, from my understanding, very common for the players to not really concern themselves with the long term outlook of an organization. They, almost as a rule, are really hyper focused on the the upcoming/current season. This is not unique to Vlasic, and IMO is right and good. I’m not saying management didn’t do the right thing, I’m just saying from Vlasic’s vantage point it could be surprising the roster wasn’t improved prior to the start of the season.
2. I feel like Vlasic’s contract heavily influences informed Sharks fans’ opinion on the player and his performances. If he was making $2M per season, him performing at a serviceable 3rd pairing level wouldn’t even merit comment. I think an argument could be made he played better or on par with anybody the Sharks deployed on their 3rd pairing. So when the Sharks are getting tuned up by 6,7,8 goals while Vlasic is in the press box, it’s not completely asinine for him to wonder if he’ll get in the next game. But ultimately, it was Quinn’s call, and Vlasic just stated the obvious. Now, I’ll not be reviewing lineup sheets to see if Vlasic was in any of the 10-2 losses to see if Vlasic is selectively ignoring any times he was in the lineup during the several curb-stomping the Sharks received. But in the end it’s such a nothing statement, why would anyone expect any player to say anything other than “I wasn’t in the lineup, but I should have been, I would have helped us win”. It’s not for players to take themselves out of lineups due to being incapable, players should always believe they can perform to a level that helps the team win. It’s for the coaching and front-office staffs to make the lineup and roster decisions.
3. I don’t know that I’d want my players to ever just accept the team is not playoff bound at the beggining of the season. By your logic any players from teams not named Panthers, Rangers, Oilers, or Dallas were delusional if they thought they were Cup contenders. Why would I hold it against a player on a bad team to convince themselves into thinking they have a shot at the playoffs? Firstly, who knows what can happen, the Oilers at one point were trending towards no playoffs and ended up in the Cup finals. Secondly, the season is a long grind and there is plenty of time for reality to beat a players hopes into submission; if starting with playoff hopes in the face of a subpar roster helps a player start the season motivated and hungry who are we to judge that?
As far as labeling these as toxic, perhaps we can review the meaning of the word. Toxic implies that these comments would harm the emotional well-being of a player or the team’s morale and I just don’t see how any of these comments do that. Like, at all. This is all pretty standard fare player narrative and the sort of commentary I’d fully expect players to share amongst themselves. Additionally, all reports to this point have indicated that the Sharks locker room was notably tight knit and positive throughout the season - so even if somehow an outside perspective might feel these comments are toxic - they didn’t function that way in the one place it actually matters.
