We here at CanucksArmy are kicking off our season previews for each Vancouver Canucks player for the upcoming 2024-2025 season. In this exercise, we will set the expectations for a particular player and discuss what their season might look like if they meet, exceed, or go below expectations.
Today, we’ll discuss the goals and expectations for Vincent Desharnais’ first season in a Canucks uniform.
A few hours after the free agent window opened, the Canucks announced they had filled their bottom-pairing right-shot defenceman role by signing Desharnais to a two-year, $4 million contract, paying him $2 million annually. The Canucks are all too familiar with his game, having played him four times in the regular season and seven times in the playoffs.
The 6’7″ defenceman plays like one would expect a player with that archetype would play. He’s a stay-at-home defenceman who excels in his own zone, in front of the net and on the penalty kill. Last season, Desharnais spent time with Mattias Ekholm, one of the top penalty killers on the team, and averaged 2:02 shorthanded minutes per game.
On the offensive side of the ice is where Desharnais light dimmers. But that’s to be expected from a defensive defenceman. He scored one goal and 10 assists for 11 points with a plus-three rating in 78 games, averaging 15:44 minutes per game. This was just Desharnais’ second season in the National Hockey League, but Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin believes there’s more to his game to be developed:
“We felt that there was even more upside,” Allvin said. “He hasn’t been in the league for a long time, and with the coaches that I have here in Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar, I believe they can help him get to the next level.”
If you haven’t already and want to know more about the game of Vincent Desharnais, check out our The Tape series with shift-by-shift analysis on what to expect from the newest Canuck defenceman.
Now, let’s set some realistic expectations for Desharnais this upcoming 2024-2025 season.
Meeting expectations: Play on the top penalty killing unit, finish as a plus player.
It’s expected that Desharnais will come in and help elevate the Canucks penalty killing right away. Before Rick Tocchet’s arrival in the 2022-2023 season, the Canucks had a 65.9% penalty kill percentage. Once Tocchet took over, it rose to 71.9% and jumped to 79.1% last season. Canucks PK coach Mike Yeo did a great job of rotating five of the club’s seven defencemen, all averaging over 1:30 minutes of penalty-killing time per game – six if you include Noah Juulsen.
But now, the team’s top penalty-killing defenceman in terms of ice time, Ian Cole and his partner Nikita Zadorov, are off the team. Their departures leave plenty of PK time to go around. Desharnais’ projected defence partner, Derek Forbort, is also a PK specialist. Will they be competing for a spot on the top PK unit? Or will they run the club’s number one option together?
If Desharnais and Forbort are going to play with each other on a penalty-killing unit, the Canucks must like what they see of these two together defensively at 5-on-5. And if they can shut opposing teams down at even strength, the offensive acquisitions made this offseason should help them finish as plus players. Desharnais has finished with a plus rating in both seasons of his NHL career, for a total of a plus-18.
Above expectations: Earn a role on the right side on a pairing with Quinn Hughes. Reach the 20-point plateau.
At first, it sounds outlandish for a player with only 114 NHL games under his belt to be paired with the reigning Norris trophy winner, but it does sound like there is some belief out there that this could happen.
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance sat down with Rick Tocchet, and the Canucks head coach spoke about potentially splitting up the Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek pairing.
“Together, those guys, especially in the first half and parts of the second half, they were excellent,” Tocchet began when asked about the Hughes-Hronek pair and the possibility of challenging Hronek to drive his own pair this upcoming season. “The possession time, the analytics offensively, they were great.”
“Saying that, does Fil tend to defer too much? I think he does,” Tocchet continued. “We had that talk at the end of the year, so it’s not something he’s shocked by. He knows he defers too much and I’d like to see him be more forceful with his decisions.
[cont’d]
“The thing with Huggy too is that he can play with a lot of different guys. With a bigger defenseman that can sling him the puck, and play a smart game, that’s a luxury too if that could happen, and then Filip could drive his own pair. That’s something we have to look at as an organization.”
Looking at the right side of the Canucks defence, the only two replacements for Hronek on Hughes’ pairing would be Tyler Myers and Vincent Desharnais. Myers had a resurgent 34-year-old campaign, but that was due to minimizing his minutes down the stretch of the season. So, if the team wants to continue with that strategy, that would leave Desharnais as the only recipient of the elevated role.
This wouldn’t be something new for Hughes, either. In previous years, he still succeeded on pairings with defensive defenceman Ethan Bear and Luke Schenn – granted not to a Norris trophy level. Who’s to say Vincent Desharnais can’t be the third defensive defenceman success story alongside Hughes?
If Desharnais is to play with Hughes, the 20-point mark is well within reach. They may mostly be secondary assists from passes that go D-to-D to Hughes and let him work his magic, but still definitely attainable. However, if that duo doesn’t cement themselves, the 20-point dream may be too far out of reach, given his career point total is 16.
Below expectations: Struggle to stay in the lineup, rotate in with Noah Juulsen.
The counterpoint of the argument from above is that there is so much more potential within the 28-year-old with just 114 NHL games; Desharnais could easily go in the opposite direction. Playing as a sixth defenceman on a team with Connor McDavid could hide some misplays and overshadow the player he actually is.
It’s no secret that Tocchet trusts his systems and expects all his players to buy into those systems and succeed. That’s not always the case. We’ve seen Noah Juulsen step in as an impactful, hard-hitting seventh defenceman when there’s an injury or the team needs some grit. If Desharnais doesn’t work out, why wouldn’t the club turn to Juulsen?
Juulsen shares many qualities with Desharnais. He’s a right-shot defensive defenceman who earned substantial penalty-killing time when inserted into the lineup. There are two differences between the two: Desharnais has the frame edge over Juulsen, but Juulsen is a more physical player.
Canucks fans shouldn’t be surprised to see this as an option if Desharnais struggles out of the gate.
Goals for Vincent Desharnais in 2024-2025:
- Surpass his 11-point career high set last season.
- Finish in the top two for penatly killing minutes for a defenceman.
- Step up his physical game by breaking his 161 hit career high set last season.
- Become a relied upon defenceman to pair with Quinn Hughes.
There’s an endless range of outcomes for Desharnais as he looks to supplant himself in a role in the Canucks’ lineup. The ceiling of playing on a line with Hughes is just as likely as the floor of losing his third-pairing right side defenceman role to Juulsen.
What do you think Canucks fans? What are your expectations for the newest Canucks defenceman Vincent Desharnais in his inaugural 2024-2025 season?
