Canucks Sign Vincent Desharnais to 2-Year Deal

Desharnais is a big (6-foot-7), physical, right-shot, penalty-killing defenseman. He’ll do well in Vancouver where the Canucks lost Nikita Zadorov to the Boston Bruins on Monday. The Oilers wanted to keep the player, but due to cap constraints, Edmonton couldn’t afford to meet a $2 million per season price tag. A late bloomer, Desharnais has shown tremendous improvement over the past season and a half, with his work on the penalty kill being particularly crucial.

There are some aspects of his game where he excels. He uses his size effectively on defense and is a great teammate. However, he’s a bottom-pair defenseman because his decision-making can be inconsistent.

Darren Dreger writes, “Canucks have added some interesting pieces. They still have some cap space so the shopping continues. They might wait a bit and be well-positioned for a bargain add in the days ahead.”