Vlastuin, who was selected with pick No.9 in last year's NAB AFL Draft, has impressed through the NAB Cup and been praised for his hardness by the coach.
Hardwick stopped short of guaranteeing Vlastuin selection in the club's season opener, but said the 18-year-old would be "thereabouts".
"The good thing for us is there's going to be some very good players who miss out, which is something we haven't had with regard to our depth," Hardwick said on Tuesday.
"There will possibly be some new faces. We've got two training sessions to get through and then we'll go with our side."
Hardwick said recruit Troy Chaplin was "an obvious choice" to slot into the Tigers' back six after crossing from Port Adelaide as a free agent, while former Demon Ricky Petterd is available after being upgraded from the rookie list.
Since 2007, when Richmond and Carlton started opening the season on a Thursday or Friday night, the Tigers have been victorious in just one of the six blockbuster clashes.
Richmond has also lost its past nine matches against Carlton, but Hardwick said his team wasn't concerned with history.
"The media expectation is always going to be there round one; it's the be-all and end-all as people say.”
"But in these four walls we've just gone about our business as we normally do,” Hardwick said.
"Our boys have prepared well, our opposition's the same.
"We've gone in with exactly the same mindset as in previous years – let's just do the work on the track and see how it represents us for round one."
Hardwick said he expected the Blues to be a formidable outfit under new coach Mick Malthouse as the club's players adjusted to his boundary-hugging game style.
However, he backed up former captain Chris Newman's claim that the Tigers fear no one heading into a season of high expectations.
"I'd like to think we had that in us last year," Hardwick said.
"There were certain stages where we played some outstanding footy and got the results we were after.
"The thing that we've seen this year is we have not played well over the course of the pre-season and still got the results we're after.
"That's what good sides do and that's what we're starting to become. The guys just have to deliver that on a consistent basis."
Nick Vlastuin is a midfielder/defender in NAB AFL Fantasy. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.
Nathan Schmook is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nathan
