Vincent Desharnais is the newest member of the Washington Capitals.
The Capitals entered free agency this summer knowing they needed to address the right side of their blueline, and did so by signing Desharnais to a four-year, $ 16.8 million contract ($4.2 million AAV).
The 30-year-old rearguard has bounced around four different NHL teams since the 2022-23 campaign, playing last year with the San Jose Sharks.
Desharnais is a hulking presence on the ice, standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 225 pounds. In 53 games for the Sharks this past year, he recorded seven points (1g, 6a), 68 penalty minutes, and averaged a single-season career high 18:10 of ice time per game.
With the Sharks, Desharnais started in the offensive zone in 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).
Desharnais was also a frequent penalty killer for the Sharks, playing 3:14 of shorthanded ice time per game. With Trevor van Riemsdyk departing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Capitals needed to replace his penalty-killing minutes.
The four-year contract sees Desharnais signed through the 2029-30 season. He joins Jakob Chychrun, Martin Fehervary, and Matt Roy as the lone defenders on the Capitals signed for that long.
