Selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round (No. 43) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Vlasic (6-foot-6, 199 pounds) has prepared for it.
"It's going to be tougher for me to move my feet faster or just as fast as the smaller players, but I think I do a pretty good job of it," the 18-year-old defenseman prospect said at Blackhawks development camp last week. "I do work on it a lot so if I can just continue to progress the way I've been going I think I should be fine."
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Vlasic, a native of Wilmette, Illinois, has curbed his own timeline for turning pro and already impressed Chicago general manager Stan Bowman.
"Yeah, he's pretty smooth," Bowman said. "I think that's always the challenge with guys that big. He covers a lot of ground with his reach but his skating, he's kept up quite well being one of the youngest guys here.
"He's tough to play against, he defends really well and I think that's a strength of this guy. So I think it's just going to be a progression for him.
"He seems to have a pretty good understanding of his path and he's not trying to make the NHL [right now]. He understands he's got some growth to do and I think those are the players that end up figuring it out as he's got a good idea of what it's going to take to become an NHL player."
