Vincent Desharnais has been with the Washington Capitals for just a few short weeks, but he is already settling into an important role with Cole Hutson, the team’s prized rookie defenseman.
“I kind of like to have the big brother role or, like, the fun uncle,” Desharnais said. “That’s kind of how I see it: the fun uncle.”
The two defensemen, at very different stages of their careers and with two very different playing styles, have been paired during training camp by head coach Spencer Carbery, giving the uber-talented Hutson a veteran physical presence to lean on as he continues to adjust to the NHL. This is not a new position for the 30-year-old rearguard either, as he served in a similar situation with San Jose Sharks rookie defender Sam Dickinson this past season.
“(I) just try to bring as much knowledge as I can. I’ve been around for a little bit,” Desharnais said. “I’ve been like [ECHL], AHL, NHL. You see a lot of things. You experience a lot of things, and if I can share that with him as much as I can and help him out, I know he’s going to be a hell of a player.”
He continued, “[Cole]’s so talented, like a few plays today that he just broke out the puck by himself… I know that blue-line-in is my specialty. That’s my strength. I just try to help him out as much as I can on that aspect of the game, and just try to communicate as much as we can together.
Hutson admitted he’s already noticing the positives of playing with Desharnais less than a week into a full-time pairing.
“He’s a joy to be around, and he’s kind of one of those guys that just walks into the room, and everyone’s happy,” Hutson said. “He’s just really cool to learn from. Obviously, we play two different style games, and it’s good for him to guide me and kind of learn off him.”
The sheer discrepancy in how the two play could be one of the main reasons the pairing works so well. Desharnais is a massive, defense-first presence who stands 6-foot-7, while Hutson is a much smaller, highly skilled puck mover whose offensive instincts drive his game.
Desharnais believes his job is to help Hutson make the most of those offensive abilities by quickly taking care of things at the other end of the ice. He is already making sure to hammer that point home to his much younger teammate.
“He’s obviously a shutdown guy, so he was telling me on the ice today, like the faster we kill plays, the more offense you’re going to play, and it’s more fun for you,” Hutson said. “Yeah, just take as much as I can from him. If you were watching practice, you can hear that guy yelling to me across the ice. He’s always talking, especially on breakouts and stuff like that, but it definitely helps a lot.”
And when it comes to having a hulking presence always watching his back in an ultra-physical league, Hutson isn’t exactly complaining.
“Yeah, he’s the big uncle, so yeah, obviously he’s huge,” Hutson said. “He uses his frame well, and hopefully he protects me a little bit.”
Desharnais signed a four-year, $16.8 million contract with the Capitals in free agency, joining a team with players he had heated battles and personal feuds with during his stints with the Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, and Edmonton Oilers. Over the summer, he told stories about Tom Wilson once calling him so ugly he looked like Lord Voldemort, and about his testy French-Canadian rivalry with Pierre-Luc Dubois.
“We hated each other when we played against each other,” Desharnais recently told Jeff Marek of Dubois. “Like, hated each other. We chirped each other so much. There was one game in San Jose; I’m all piss and vinegar. It’s my second trade; there are 12 games left. I’m playing hard, and we were chirping each other in French, and the refs didn’t know what to do. We were just going at it. We went in the box and we’re still going at it and we were saying some pretty bad things to each other.
“And then boom, next thing you know, I’ve been here for two weeks, and he’s been texting me almost every day like, ‘Hey, we’re going to grab a coffee, want to come with us’ or, ‘Come have dinner at my house.’ He’s been the nicest person. I’m like, ‘It’s nice to be friends, dude.'”
But now, just a short time into his first camp with the Capitals, it’s clear that his new teammates are loving having him on their side. The club’s number-one defenseman, Jakob Chychrun, painted that picture best when he described getting to know Desharnais during his first media availability last week.
“He’s a big guy,” Chychrun said. “Seems like he has a great personality. I’ve enjoyed talking with him. I got back to town, and my truck battery was dead from sitting in the driveway all summer, so I Ubered here in the morning. He gave me a ride home, so we got to know each other kind of the first day I was here. He seems like a really nice guy.
“I know he plays a really hard-nosed style of game, and those are the guys we really appreciate on a night-to-night basis when he’s putting his body on the line and doing all the hard little things right. I know he works a lot on that aspect of his game. So happy for him with the new deal. I know he’s really pumped to be here. And, yeah, excited to see what he brings for us.”
Desharnais says he takes pride in being that sort of presence in the locker room and was happy to join a team like the Capitals, who already have a tight-knit, family-style atmosphere created by their long-time leaders.
“It’s definitely fun to come in on a team that’s got a really good culture already,” Desharnais said. “I just come in, and the culture has always been set for years and years with Ovi here, Willy. It’s just fun just to be myself. I don’t have to change who I am, and I just fit in. Every day I just try to bring a smile. I put a smile on my face whether we lost the night before or I played a bad game. It’s a new day. The sun came up and, hey, I’m in the best league in the world. Let’s have fun today. Just try to bring a smile and bring good vibes every day.”
Desharnais played in his first preseason game for the Capitals this past weekend, skating 18:19 of ice time against the Boston Bruins. He will likely make his full regular-season debut with the Caps in the team’s opening game against the Carolina Hurricanes on October 2.
