SAN JOSE – Perhaps few Sharks players needed some time away from hockey this summer more than defenseman Vincent Desharnais.
Less than a year after reaching the Stanley Cup Final with the Edmonton Oilers, Desharnais was dealt twice in a five-week span before the NHL trade deadline in March and missed the last 11 games of the year with an upper body injury.
Although Desharnais received positive feedback from the Sharks coaching staff in exit interviews in April, he still needed a reset after his most challenging season as a professional.
“When the season ended, I was in a kind of tough place mentally,” said Desharnais, who skated in the Sharks’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday at SAP Center in the preseason opener for both teams.
“I took a lot of time off in the woods and fishing and no phones, no social media, and that was very, very helpful. And I’m back. I’m ready. I feel good physically, feel good mentally.”
Desharnais is in the second year of a two-year, $4 million contract he signed with the Vancouver Canucks, who were impressed with the 6-foot-7 rearguard during their second-round playoff series with the Oilers in May 2024.
But Desharnais’ brief tenure in Vancouver was rocky almost from the start, as after just one game, he was a healthy scratch by then-Canucks coach Rick Tocchet. This came shortly after the Oilers’ run to Game 7 of the 2024 Cup Final, when Desharnais dressed for 15 straight playoff games, but only played in one of the team’s final 10.
Desharnais would play just 34 of 48 games with the Canucks before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Desharnais then lasted just 34 days in Pittsburgh, where his ice time fell off a bit, before he was shipped to San Jose in March for a 2028 fifth round pick.
Desharnais found a role with the Sharks, though, and his exit meeting with coach Ryan Warsofsky let him know he was valued by the organization.
“When you get traded twice in a year, and going back to Edmonton, not playing in every game in the Stanley Cup Finals, playing the whole season, playing most playoffs, and at the end, you’re not in. Like, right away, you kind of question yourself,” Desharnais said.
“You change teams. Things are not going your way. Get traded, get traded again. At some point, your confidence is kind of taking a hit. You’re questioning yourself a lot, and having kind of that reassurance helped a little bit.”
Warsofsky said his message to Desharnais was to “play towards his identity. We don’t need to come in and run a power play and try to create a ton of offense. Just defend hard. Use his size, use his length.”
Desharnais said he used a mental coach to try to get back to enjoying the game, saying that after signing with the Canucks, “I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. And obviously there’s a mix of a lot of things that happened last season, but at some point, (I struggled with) just my confidence and just being at peace, being at peace with myself, being at peace with my thoughts.
“When I got home at the end of the season, I was not in a great head space. There was a lot of negativity and I was kind of trying to get out of it.”
As Desharnais reflected on the year, he asked himself what he needed to learn from the experience. He got off the grid and began to work with a new mental coach, which helped give him perspective.
“Just go play out there. You’ve got nothing to lose,” Desharnais said. “I (was a) seventh rounder in 2016. I shouldn’t technically be here, so let’s just have fun. Last year, something I got away from is having fun. I got caught in the business of things and the trades and all that. I’m here because I work hard and I have fun.”
