Vincent Desharnais arrived in Washington this summer with plenty of reasons to overthink things.
The veteran defenseman was joining a different team, getting acquainted with a new coaching staff and unfamiliar teammates, and adjusting to bigger expectations after signing a four-year, $16.8 million contract with the Capitals. But instead of letting those uncharted waters consume him, Desharnais has leaned on mindfulness and integrated expressive practices to avoid feeling overwhelmed, adding two new self-soothing methods to his daily routine: breathwork and journaling.
“I think it’s the first summer that I don’t think as much,” Desharnais said last month. “Even before training camp, I’m a big thinker. I get anxiety from it at times, and I’ve built some habits through breathwork and journaling. And when you work on those habits a lot, it just becomes easier to change and to be uncomfortable.”
Desharnais has been forced into unknown, uncomfortable situations before, playing for seven different professional teams since leaving Providence College in 2019. Just two seasons ago, he played for three different NHL teams, the Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and San Jose Sharks, during the same campaign.
Before this offseason, Desharnais had never signed an NHL contract longer than two years. He says that sense of stability, and specifically his fit with the Capitals in their locker room, has also eased any qualms he might have had about entering another unfamiliar environment.
“Coming in, this culture, the staff that’s here, whether it’s the coaching staff, the medical staff, the equipment staff, they all make you feel welcome,” Desharnais said. “They all make you feel comfortable right away. It’s been really nice the last few weeks to just come in; even though it’s a lot of changes, it’s a lot of new things for me, I still feel a lot more comfortable than in previous years.
“And a part of it is the people here, and the other part is just confidence and that mindset to say, ‘Hey, just go out there, work your butt off, and just have fun.'”
Desharnais’ approach is shaped by some difficult experiences throughout his career. After leaving college in 2019, the 30-year-old blueliner spent time in the ECHL before finally sticking in the AHL during the 2021-22 season. He then had to wait another two full seasons before making his NHL debut during the 2022-23 campaign. Desharnais was traded multiple times once he reached the big leagues, including twice in the same season.
At the time, he said, those rough patches could feel overwhelming, but looking back, those humbling challenges gave him the perspective he needed and helped him grow both mentally and emotionally as a young adult.
“I think the biggest thing is that when you go through all those experiences, you just learn a lot,” Desharnais said. “When you’re in it, it feels like it’s the end of the world and you’re not happy or comfortable. But every time you pass through those experiences, and you learn, and you don’t quit on them, and you keep working, and you just get out of the s***.
“Sorry for the expression, but that’s what it is. It feels like you’re in the s***, and there’s no way out of it. And you just, on a daily basis, just work and work and work to just get out of it. Because that’s life in general. Everyone has their own issues. Everyone has their bad days, their good days, and it’s just if you try to be as balanced as possible, as consistent as possible with your habits, with your mindset, it really helps.”
Desharnais finally gained real traction in the NHL with the Sharks at the end of the 2024-25 season and throughout last year. He played in 53 games for San Jose, the most he had in a single season since playing 78 for the Edmonton Oilers during the 2023-24 campaign.
In those games last season, Desharnais recorded seven points (1g, 6a), 68 penalty minutes, and averaged a single-season career high 18:10 of ice time per game. He started in the offensive zone in just 33.7 percent of his five-on-five zone starts, the lowest mark among the team’s regular skaters. 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).
“That last season is probably the best season I’ve had in my career,” Desharnais said. “I didn’t change much, but one thing I changed: I changed my mindset. Instead of always training to be perfect, I just try to have fun. The reason why I’m here is because if I worked hard, I had fun. So my mindset is not going to change this season. And I think it’s a team that fits right with this mindset.”
Desharnais plans to bring that same positive mindset to Washington, where he has already been labeled the “fun uncle” by some of his younger teammates, including his defense partner, Cole Hutson.
“I’ve never been part of a training camp where it’s so much fun,” Desharnais said. “We’re having a blast. We’re working hard. We’re battling against each other. We’re crushing each other. But, like, we’re having fun doing it off the ice, on the ice.”
The Capitals will get their first real look at Desharnais on Friday night when they open their 2026-27 regular season account against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. He is set to line up next to Hutson at five-on-five and play a large role on the club’s penalty-killing unit.
