Vlasic scoffs at report tying CBA extension to Olympic participation

Marc-Edouard Vlasic's reaction to a recent report in regards to an Olympic participation proposal is quite telling.

The NHL is apparently willing to allow players to appear in the 2018 international tournament in exchange for a three-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreement, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported Wednesday.

The San Jose Shark defenseman was entertained by the notion, at least.

"I started laughing," Vlasic said Thursday, according to Kevin Kurz of CSN. "That’s not negotiating. It’s not.

"As an athlete, it’s your right to go to the Olympics. I don’t know if (the report) is true. I hope it’s not. That’s not the way you negotiate things. But, if that is true, all of a sudden they don’t mind having a two-week break in the NHL for a three-year collective bargaining agreement."

Vlasic won a gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Olympics, and is also a 2016 World Cup champion. He's relished the ability to play in the best-on-best tournaments, and clearly wouldn't like to be told he could not represent his country in 2018.

"If they don’t allow players to go, that’s just ... in my opinion, you don’t do that. You don’t do that."