The Washington Capitals raised some eyebrows when they made a four-year, $16.8 million commitment to defenseman Vincent Desharnais on the first day of NHL free agency.
Desharnais has bounced around four different NHL teams since the 2022-23 campaign, playing the best hockey of his career last year with the San Jose Sharks. While the big bet on Desharnais could look like the Capitals panicking to fill a need on the right side of their defense, the team has actually been long admirers of the 6-foot-7 rearguard, according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski.
Washington also bid high for Desharnais, a physical defensive defenseman making $4.2 million against the cap for four seasons. The Capitals had attempted to acquire him from the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline but were rebuffed by the surprise contender in the Western Conference.
With the Sharks, Desharnais started in the offensive zone just 33.7 percent of his five-on-five zone starts, the lowest mark among regular skaters on the team. Overall, San Jose was better with Desharnais on the ice at five-on-five than off of it, as he posted positive relative results in shot attempt percentage (0.02), expected goals for percentage (6.6), scoring chance for percentage (0.7), and high-danger chance for percentage (2.21).
According to The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, Desharnais’ teams have allowed at least 0.15 fewer expected goals against per 60 minutes while he was on the ice in each of the past four NHL seasons. With San Jose, it was a career-best 0.53, and the Sharks earned 50.6 percent of expected goals and 50.4 percent of actual goals with Desharnais on the ice. He was also a frequent penalty killer for the Sharks, receiving 3:14 of shorthanded ice time per game.
With John Carlson’s departure at the trade deadline, Trevor van Riemsdyk hitting free agency, and Rasmus Sandin suffering a long-term injury, the Capitals headed into this offseason with a clear desire to address their backend. General manager Chris Patrick achieved that goal through signing Desharnais and Justin Holl, as well as re-signing Timothy Liljegren.
“Another thing that Carbs had on his wish list to add this offseason was a defenseman with size who could kill penalties,” Patrick told Wyshynski. “There were a few of them out there — some maybe more famous names than [Desharnais] — but he’s just a guy that we’ve liked really the last couple years.”
Desharnais gives the Capitals a perfect option to play next to one of their ultra-talented, left-shot defenders, Jakob Chychrun and Cole Hutson. Caps head coach Spencer Carbery has already been thinking about where exactly the big blueliner will line up come the fall.
“We know exactly what he is and his identity as an NHL defenseman,” Carbery said Friday. “I think he has a great understanding of that. We’ve got two really offensive left stick defensemen in Jacob Chychrun and Hutty. And so to have Matt Roy at the forefront, but also Desharnais to be able to really give us a reliable, strong, physical, good defending defender like he is, is a really good fit.”
During his first meeting with the media on Thursday, Desharnais expressed his sheer excitement about joining the Capitals. He particularly praised the club for recognizing what type of player he is and not expecting him to be something that he is not.
“It’s hard to play against the Caps,” Desharnais said. “That’s the type of hockey I love to play. Compete every night, structure, everyone knows what’s happening, and every time I played against the Caps the last four years, that’s what I’ve seen. The other thing too is that I think that it’s a good fit for me. The talks we had were very positive, where they saw me in my role, not someone I’m not.
“I wanted to go to a team that wanted me for the role that I can bring. I don’t want to be someone I’m not, and I love that. Every talk, it was super positive and helping younger guys, Hutson, and trying to help his D side, and being able to play with guys that have more offense, and just kind of me taking care of our backend. Those were all things that were very interesting to me.”
Desharnais will get a chance to prove the Capitals’ faith in him right when he arrives for his first training camp with the team in the fall. He is signed through the 2029-30 season, joining Chychryn, Roy, and Martin Fehervary as the lone defenders on the Caps signed for that long.
