Things are more dramatic this season, but the Edmonton Oilers started off slowly in 2022–23 as well. As the calendar turned to 2023, the Oilers game rounded into form, as did their results, as the team springboarded itself up the standings. Coincidentally, perhaps, it was in early January that Vincent Desharnais, a then 26-year-old rookie, was called up.
Though far from the most typical development path, and without the upside of high end skill that is normally associated with rookies, Desharnais instead relies on defensive skills that are more elusive to the eye to make an impact on the game. The Oilers near sterling record with Desharnais in the lineup might have been tarnished with the Oilers bafflingly slow start, but there is still a lot to like about the Oilers play so far, and Desharnais has once again been a contributor to that.
Let’s take a look at where Desharnais’ game is and how it might help the Oilers round into form once again.
Analyzing his game based on the eye test
The most obvious thing to point out is size, as Desharnais stands at 6’7”. This is helpful for stickchecking, giving Desharnais the wingspans to cover a lot of ice. While this is useful in all three zones, Desharnais’ best work comes in the defensive zone. Desharnais is able to suppress chances at the net front, and is adept at clogging up the slot. His size and strength make him a force in physical confrontations at the net front as well as in the corners breaking up cycles. For this reason Desharnais is also a staple of the penalty kill, often partnered with Mattias Ekholm to form the team’s second pairing behind Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci while a skater short.
In their own right these attributes are all worthwhile, but within the context of the Oilers blueline as a whole their importance is multiplied. At the time that Desharnais was called up last season, the Oilers had Evan Bouchard and Tyson Barrie behind Ceci on the right side. While both Bouchard and Barrie bring a lot to the ice, it would be less than ideal to have to feature either so heavily on the penalty kill.
Desharnais fills a crucial role for the Oilers, is a rarer right shot, and has a minuscule cap hit ($762,500), combining to give us an outline of a fairly valuable player. Yet, many across Oilers Country remain unimpressed, or at least unconvinced that Desharnais is worthy of a spot in the top six (or seven).
Desharnais is an easy target for fan’s frustrations, as he has visible limitations. Desharnais is by no means the best skater on the team, though tall players often appear to be slower than they are which does not help his case. Desharnais is perhaps even more limited as a puck handler, making many of his moments with the puck more tense than necessary. On some level, his lack of aptitude in both areas might be enough for fans to write Desharnais off completely, but when we observe some of the flow of play stats we might be able to see that the opposite is true.
Breaking down Desharnais’ stats
| Rank | Line | Minutes | Games | xGoals % | xGoals For Per 60 Minutes | xGoals Against Per 60 Minutes |
| 1 | Kulak-Bouchard | 15.3 | 15 | 73.30% | 4.32 | 1.57 |
| 2 | Nurse-Desharnais | 17.6 | 8 | 66.70% | 2.05 | 1.02 |
| 3 | Ekholm-Bouchard | 254.7 | 19 | 60.30% | 3.39 | 2.24 |
| 4 | Nurse-Ceci | 261.8 | 20 | 55.70% | 3.12 | 2.48 |
| 5 | Kulak-Desharnais | 156.6 | 18 | 54.10% | 2.53 | 2.15 |
| 6 | Nurse-Kulak | 16.6 | 15 | 50% | 2.17 | 2.17 |
| 7 | Nurse-Bouchard | 29.6 | 15 | 50% | 3.25 | 3.25 |
| 8 | Kulak-Ceci | 31.6 | 16 | 47.10% | 3.04 | 3.42 |
| 9 | Kulak-Broberg | 41.5 | 9 | 46.20% | 2.61 | 3.04 |
| 10 | Broberg-Desharnais | 16.1 | 7 | 45.50% | 1.86 | 2.24 |
| 11 | Nurse-Ekholm | 18.1 | 18 | 35.70% | 1.66 | 2.99 |
We see in this table some expected goal metrics for Oilers’ defensive pairings that have played at least 15 minutes together at even strength this season. It is, of course, good news that we see the top performing pairings come from the biggest names on the Oilers blueline, with the trio of Nurse, Ekholm, and Bouchard populating most of the upper half of this list.
Brett Kulak is an interesting barometer here, as he has partnered with nearly every other defender on the team. Kulak and Bouchard are the top performing pairing overall, though Kulak has had better results with Desharnais than he has with Nurse, Ceci, and Philip Broberg.
Speaking of which, Broberg and Desharnais have not fared well together, suggesting a potential issue in compatibility, at least at the time being. The wide variance in effectiveness between Desharnais and other partners might speak to his fairly one dimensional skill set, in other words, Desharnais requires a partner who can shoulder most or all of the work with the puck.
This brings us to the elephant in the room, that Desharnais has fared quite well alongside Nurse this season. Conceptually, there is a harmony between the two. Nurse is a great player with a well rounded skill set, though the areas he might lack most are areas in which Desharnais excels. Nurse is not the offensive powerhouse that Bouchard is, but can capably advance the puck with his skating or passing. Ceci has been Nurse’s primary partner, and does bring a more rounded skill set than Desharnais, though these numbers would suggest that Nurse appreciates the more concentrated defensive contributions of Desharnais.
Some metrics rank Desharnais even higher, with some impressive league wide stats here. When we think about these results so far in the context of Desharnais’ career they take on a new meaning.
There is room for growth
Desharnais has been a long shot for quite some time, but has continually earned the trust of his coaches as he has worked his way up the ranks. Desharnais has done so from college, to the ECHL, to the AHL, and now to the NHL, all without producing meaningful offensive numbers.
While there are other areas that most onlookers would acknowledge the Oilers should look to upgrade, improving the defence has been, and continues to be, in the conversation. In an ideal world, this issue is often solved by adding a top-four player who is a right shot with a defensive disposition. Without moving out salary, this player would also need to fit into a tight Oilers salary cap structure. Perhaps, this unicorn of a player is already on the roster?
In the power vacuum of icetime that accompanies a new coach, Kris Knoblauch, the time might be upon the Oilers to see if Desharnais can handle a bigger role. Perhaps this begins with him taking over top penalty killing duties on the right side, or perhaps even supplanting Ceci as Nurse’s partner outright. Given that Nurse and Desharnais seemed to have done well in their minutes together so far, there is some reason to believe that these results can continue.
In a vacuum, Desharnais might not be a true top-four defenceman, but circumstantially, on this Oilers team, all signs point to his being worthy of a shot to prove himself. From a long term roster building perspective, finding a partner for Nurse who is relatively cheap, to help Nurse’s contract age a bit more gracefully, and strong enough to get the most out of Nurse on the ice as well.
We have seen bigger defencemen hit their strides at older ages. Of course the great Zdeno Chara is the most ambitious of this comparison, but even players like Hal Gill remained effective into their late 30s. We have a clear years-long trend of this occurring to Desharnais as well, meaning that his best years might still be ahead of him. Of course it might take some more time until he reaches that level, if he can, but continuing to be exposed to elite NHLers will give Desharnais more experience in dealing with them. He will need to learn to combat the best in the world with his mind to leverage his physical strengths and weaknesses.
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Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
