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Sometimes, professional athletes sign with a new club during the offseason, and for whatever reason, it just doesn't work out. That appears to be the case with the Vancouver Canucks and defenseman Vincent Desharnais, whom they signed from the Edmonton Oilers as a free agent.
The Canucks are reportedly looking to find a trade partner for Desharnais, who hasn't meshed within head coach Rick Tocchet's system; he's been a healthy scratch multiple times and has registered only two assists in 17 games while also posting a -4 rating.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman in his latest “32 Thoughts” column, he indicated that Canucks GM Patrik Allvin was looking to move on from Desharnais:
“Vancouver is trying to find a better fit for Vincent Desharnais,” he wrote. “It just hasn’t worked out as everyone hoped.”
Meanwhile, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Canucks are looking to unload Desharnais to get another blue liner into the top-four pairing.
“The Canucks have been in the market for a defenceman to enter their top-four and with limited cap space, moving Desharnais and his $2 million cap hit will give them more options to play with,” he wrote.
“It is unclear which teams the Canucks are speaking with about Desharnais, but the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs were believed to have interest in signing him as a free agent – he left Edmonton to sign with Vancouver.”
The Canucks are back in action on Saturday night against the Boston Bruins.
Canucks defenseman Vincent Desharnais
The Canucks signed Desharnais, who had just helped the Edmonton Oilers to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, to a two-year contract with an AAV of $2 million. According to GM Patrik Allvin, the team was impressed with how Desharnais played against them as a member of the Oilers in their second-round postseason series.
“We were really impressed by the strides Vincent made this year at the NHL level,” Allvin said. “Our team got to see firsthand how big and strong he is on the ice during our playoff series against Edmonton. The coaching staff are really looking forward to working with him this year, to help him grow and improve as a hockey player.”
In 131 career NHL games, Desharnais has one goal with 17 assists.
