ROSTER REDUX: Vincent Desharnais

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, EdmontonOilers.com is taking a look back at the '22-23 individual performances of the Oilers in our series 'Roster Redux'

EDMONTON, AB - Six-and-a-half years after being selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL Draft, defenceman Vincent Desharnais finally earned his long-laboured opportunity to make his NHL debut.

It was a difficult road fraught with roadblocks and obstacles, but the patience and persistence shown by Desharnais over extended stops in the NCAA, ECHL and AHL all helped pave his way to the NHL this past January and keep them there as an important piece of the Oilers push toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I think he has a clear understanding of the type of player that he is," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I think he has an emotional maturity to his game that now his physical maturity has caught up to. I think he's hit the necessary developmental steps along the way and he's taking advantage of an opportunity."

At the not-so-tender age of 26 for a rookie, the hardships were well worth the sacrifice for Desharnais, who suited up for his first NHL game in Anaheim on Jan. 11, 2023 and began an impressive and impactful first 48-game stretch over the regular season and playoffs that firmly places the Laval, QC product in the conversation for a full-time spot on the Oilers blueline this upcoming campaign.

For the large majority of late-round draft picks, suiting up for one NHL game, let alone multiple appearances, is a success story in itself for how they defied the odds to compete in the game's greatest league.

But not for Vinny, who following a successful first 36 games in the NHL in '22-23 has now played in more NHL games than the rest of the 2016 seventh round combined and feels he's just getting started on carving out a full-time NHL role starting next season.

"I feel like that's just how I am," Desharnais said last summer when speaking to EdmontonOilers.com. "I just need the door to be open for me to put a step in. Everywhere I've been, it's been one step at a time, but I know what I can do."

The 6-foot-6 rearguard finished his senior NCAA season for the Providence College Friars in '18-19 with a team-best +22 plus/minus to go along with 13 points in 42 games as he continued to fine-tune his role as a heavy shutdown defender in preparation for the professional game.

"I want my presence to be known," Desharnais said. "I want them to be pissed off at me, take stupid penalties, and I want them to know that I'm on the ice."

Desharnais began his climb on a two-year AHL deal in 2019 and split time with the Oilers AHL and then-ECHL affiliates in the Bakersfield Condors and Wichita Thunder over the next two seasons whileriding the ups and downs of developing his game before re-upping with the organization on a two-year extension to continue his development as a shutdown blueliner.

"It's all about details in what separates the good players from the best players, and the biggest difference is the small details," he said. "The stick and the PK details were big things for me. I was able to play in the AHL when I got in, but I was not a good solid defenceman and that's what we worked for -- to be a hard-nosed defenceman where at the net front it's hard to go against me."

Desharnais had his first full breakout during his first full season with Bakersfield in 2022, when he posted five goals, 22 assists and an impressive +36 plus/minus that ranked No. 1 in the AHL.

Most notably, the defender's shot-suppression ability and overall effectiveness in a penalty-killing role were putting his skills on notice for a potential look with the Oilers this past '22-23 campaign, leading to the right-shot rearguard receiving a new two-year NHL contract.

With an open spot on Edmonton's back end for one of the organization's young blueliners to take a bigger share of the pie heading into this past season, Desharnais was poised to compete for that open spot alongside Dmitri Samorukov, Philip Broberg and Markus Niemelainen at Oilers Main Camp until a hand injury derailed his chances at earning an NHL roster spot.

When he did ultimately earn his first call-up in early January with the Oilers struggling to keep pucks out of their own net, Desharnais' NHL debut two games later on Jan. 11 in Anaheim marked a noticeable shift in Edmonton's defensive struggles near the mid-way mark of their season.

The blueliner played 15:04 in his debut against the Ducks, a resounding 6-2 victory, with his arrival marking a noticeable shift in Edmonton's defence as the Oilers were able to rattle off 11 straight games unbeaten in regulation (9-0-2) following the Laval, QC product's NHL debut during an extended four-game Pacific Division road trip.

In his first 11 NHL games, Desharnais produced four assists, had a +9 plus/minus and was steadily becoming a critical piece of Edmonton's penalty kill, while allowing Head Coach Jay Woodcroft and Assistant Coach Dave Manson more flexibility in a regular 11-and-7 lineup deployment as another right-shot defender who could fill in the gaps at even strength around Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm, Cody Ceci, Brett Kulak and Evan Bouchard.

"I see someone who's really comfortable with his own game," Woodcroft said. "He knows what he is and he's adding to an area that we felt we could get better at, which is down-low defensive coverage, net play, being hard in those battle areas, and he's a good penalty killer. He's been a big addition to our group."

Following the trade of Tyson Barrie to the Nashville Predators for Mattias Ekholm at the Trade Deadline in March, Desharnais garnered even more responsibility on the right side of the third defensive pairing as his ice time began to steadily tick upward.

Desharnais' massive wingspan that helps impose himself physically and split attackers from the puck with his long stick became well-known around the NHL, also helping garner himself the nickname "Seaweed Man" in the Oilers coaches' room for his ability to get any piece of opponents with his large 6-foot-6, 215-pound frame.

"I would say that in the coaches' room, that used to be what we would talk about all the time," Head Coach Woodcroft said of the nickname. "Trying to get to the net was like swimming through seaweed, or swimming through kelp, with the implication being that some piece is going touch you as you're trying to get to that area."

But a dream debut for Desharnais in '22-23 wasn't all perfect, he'll be the first to admit, after some of his mistakes were exposed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After adjusting to the pace of playoff hockey in the first handful of games in the first round against Los Angeles, Desharnais gained composure later in the series -- posting two assists in the clinching Game 6 victory -- before an error in his own zone in Game 1 versus the Vegas Golden Knights led directly to a goal against.

Those adjustable errors across the regular season and playoffs during his first taste of NHL hockey in '22-23 only fuel the fire for Desharnais, who despite his inexperience at the NHL level is operating with a veteran level of detail when it comes to improving his chances at cracking the NHL on a full-time basis next season.

"I don't think he's phased by the league or the opportunity that's in front of him. He knows and was given a very clear message that when he got called up, he wasn't here just because he's a good guy," Woodcroft said. "We want players to not just make the team but make the team better and he clearly got that message."

"I work hard," Desharnais said. "I would say that's my biggest asset -- that I'm a hard worker and no matter what happens, I know I'll work by bag off."