SAN JOSE – Marc-Edouard Vlasic of the San Jose Sharks is set to join Detroit Red Wings legend Nicklas Lidstrom as the only two defensemen in NHL history to play at least 1,300 games with the same team.

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But while Lidstrom won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman a staggering seven times during his Hall of Fame career, Vlasic was never close to being a finalist. The Norris has become more about point production, and Vlasic, primarily used in a shutdown role over his 18-plus seasons, only received votes for the award four times.

Vlasic is not bothered by this but does have a suggestion for the NHL.

“I hope down the road they give out two trophies,” he said.

The Norris, and another for the league’s top shutdown defenseman.

“I think it’s absolutely absurd,” they don’t, said Vlasic, who could play his 1,300th NHL game on Thursday when the Sharks play the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Right now, the NHL has a handful of awards geared toward forwards: The Art Ross Trophy goes to the highest point producer, the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy goes to the league’s top goal scorer, and the Frank J. Selke Trophy goes to the league’s top defensive forward. Chris Pronger was the last defenseman to win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player in 2000.

Even goalies have two awards: The Vezina Trophy goes to the top individual goalie, and the William M. Jennings Trophy is awarded to the goalkeeper(s) having played a minimum of 25 games for his team with the fewest goals scored against.

But a second award for defensemen — besides the Norris — doesn’t exist.

“They have a Vezina and a Jennings. They have two for goalies,” Vlasic said. “They have one for D-men, two for goalies, and the rest are forwards. That makes no sense.”

According to NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, the idea of creating an award for the best defensive defensemen has never been seriously considered.

“No, I do not believe this has ever been considered on a serious basis,” Daly wrote in an email to this news organization.

The latest individual awards created for players were the Rocket Richard Trophy, donated by the Montreal Canadiens in 1999 to honor their franchise icon, and the Mark Messier Leadership Award, created by the NHL and first given out in 2007.

According to Daly, creating a new league award would generally start with a recommendation from the league and/or club general managers to the Board of Governors.

“The Selke, of course, give it to him. The best defensive forward,” Vlasic said. “But there’s (no defensive award) for D-men, which is outrageous. Outrageous.”

Had a shutdown defenseman award existed, Vlasic, for several years, would likely have been a strong candidate.

Vlasic averaged nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game from 2006 to 2020. During that time, he was the Sharks’ leading penalty killer in average time on ice (2:34 per game) and also blocked 1,766 shots in 1,035 games.

Vlasic was dearly missed by the Sharks in the 2014 playoffs when he was injured in Game 5 of their first-round series against Los Angeles, as the Kings fought back from a 3-0 series deficit to win in seven games. As a sign of his value, Vlasic, usually matched against the opponent’s top forwards, won Olympic gold with Team Canada earlier that year.

During the Sharks’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, Vlasic and partner Justin Braun, during the playoffs, held then-Kings forward Tyler Toffoli, a 31-goal scorer that year, to one assist in five games. Nashville Predators winger Filip Forsberg, a 33-goal scorer, was held to one goal in seven games, and Vladimir Tarasenko, then of the St. Louis Blues, was limited to two goals in six games. He scored 40 that year.

After he was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in 2019, Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun requested clips of Vlasic and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin from the team’s director of player development, Todd Marchant, to study. Marchant holds that same position now in San Jose.

“Marc was probably the best defensive defenseman in the game,” Thrun said. “Someone that really understands the ins and outs of the game and still does. … He’s like having another coach out there. Such a calm demeanor and understands every aspect of the game.”

Vlasic could have reached this milestone last season but was a healthy scratch for 22 of the Sharks’ first 41 games. But starting with a game in his hometown of Montreal on Jan. 11, 2024, Vlasic played 38 of 41 games in the second half of the season. The three he missed were due to injury.

This season, Vlasic was considered a non-roster player until the start of this month. He was injured before the start of training camp, and, per the Sharks, needed extra time to build up his conditioning as he prepared for a return. The Sharks coaching staff was impressed with Vlasic’s work ethic, professionalism, and willingness to improve in that time.

Vlasic has played three of the Sharks’ six games in the new year and has been given more ice time each game. On Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, Vlasic played 17:49, assisted on Nico Sturm’s first-period shorthanded goal, and saw a regular shift in the third period in the Sharks’ 6-3 win.

The Sharks are 3-0-0 with Vlasic in the lineup.

“You can just feel his presence,” said Vlasic’s defense partner, Jan Rutta, on the Sharks Audio Network. “Almost 1,300 games, the game’s pretty easy with him.”

“He knows how to play the position at an extremely high level. He’s done it his whole career,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He stabilizes us a little bit back there.”

Warsofsky, who played defense in college and a brief pro career, also feels the NHL should have a defensive defenseman award.

“If you asked every coach in this league, the defenseman that they may pick to be on their team … may be the guy that stabilizes the back end, just being simple, closing, killing plays,” Warsofsky said. “So 100%, I’d be in favor of the NHL adding a (defensive defenseman award).”

“It’s been talked about for so long,” Vlasic said. “Still, no one’s made an adjustment.”