SAN JOSE – Defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic will make his season debut Thursday when the San Jose Sharks host the Tampa Bay Lightning, looking to end an eight-game losing streak.
Vlasic was paired with Jan Rutta during the Sharks’ morning skate at Sharks Ice on Thursday and was part of the team’s penalty-killing unit during drills.
The 37-year-old Vlasic, now in his 19th NHL season, missed all of camp with an upper-body injury, which he described in October as an issue mainly involving his upper back. But he has regularly been taking part in Sharks practices and morning skates since at least late November.
Vlasic had been considered a non-roster player since the start of the regular season when the Sharks submitted their salary cap-compliant roster to the NHL. The Sharks created a roster opening for Vlasic when they placed forward Carl Grundstrom on injured reserve on Thursday.
Grundstrom was injured in the first period of the Sharks’ game against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 28 when he was hit in the neutral zone by defenseman Brayden Pachal.
Vlasic missed 40 games, as the Sharks enter Thursday with an 11-23-6 record and in eighth and last place in the Pacific Division.
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