Vincent Desharnais is the ‘Seaweed Man’, and no, it’s not because it’s a preferred topping on his poké bowl or a healthy, rich-in-minerals snack he religiously consumes before games.
The towering 6-foot-7 defenseman earned the nickname during his time in the Edmonton Oilers organization because he made it hard for opposing players to get to prime real estate on the ice, using his massive wingspan and long stick to make life miserable for forwards.
“I would say that in the coaches’ room, that used to be what we would talk about all the time,” Oilers then-head coach Jay Woodcroft said to NHL.com in July 2023. “Trying to get to the net was like swimming through seaweed, or swimming through kelp, with the implication being that some piece is going to touch you as you’re trying to get to that area.”
Desharnais was asked about the nickname while speaking to Monumental Sports Network’s Jeff Marek on an episode of The Hockey Lifers. Desharnais explained that it originated in AHL Bakersfield and followed him up to the Oilers when he graduated to the team in 2022-23.
“So that started with our head coach that was there, Woody, Jay Woodcroft,” Desharnais said. “And I don’t know, he just mentioned that in one of the medias. And like, no one ever called me that before. He’s like, oh yeah, we call him ‘Seaweed Man.’ And then one of the players there, James Hamblin, he heard that. And he was like, ‘Vin, it’s going to stick.’ I’m like, ‘It’s not a thing, Hammer. We’re not doing this.’ And every day he would see me, he’d say, ‘Seaweed Man. Seaweed Man.’
“And then we got to Edmonton, and he started doing that again: ‘Seaweed Man,’ he continued. “And then guys started kind of picking up a little bit. And he would tease with me. And yeah, and it’s just here and there; I’ll hear it. And then in Edmonton, it kind of stuck a little bit more. And last year, I even signed some cards, and I had to write ‘Seaweed Man’ on it. And it was so funny. It was so good.”
The cards are, in fact, real and were part of the 2025 Upper Deck SP Authentic set released last year. Desharnais added the moniker on 35 of his “Sign of the Times” autographed inserts.
“I took a picture, and I sent it to Hammer,” Desharnais said. “I was like, look what you’ve done. And he was so happy. He was so proud of himself.”
The Capitals signed the 30-year-old Laval, Quebec native to a four-year contract over the offseason, giving them much-needed size on the back end. The Capitals’ defense corps features two offensive stars in Jakob Chychrun and Cole Hutson and two slick-skating, hard-to-play-against defenders in Matt Roy and Martin Fehervary, but it lacked an imposing figure who would get a jersey every night.
Desharnais is one of 10 players the Capitals may have on their 23-man roster this season that are 6-foot-4 or taller. Tom Wilson called the phenomenon “a bit laughable,” which could also describe Desharnais’s wonderfully bizarre aquatic nickname.
