Vincent Desharnais is heading to the Washington Capitals on a four-year, $16.8 million contract. The deal gives Washington a 30-year-old, 6-foot-7 defenseman with a $4.2 million average annual value.
Desharnais logged seven points in 53 games with the San Jose Sharks last season, including one goal and six assists. He also averaged a career-high 18:11 of ice time and finished with 83 blocked shots, 103 hits and a plus-7 rating.
Washington adds size and range
Chris Patrick added a player who has already handled a full NHL workload. Desharnais has 26 points in 218 career NHL games with San Jose, Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Edmonton, and he has averaged 16:00 of ice time across that span.
The contract comes after a 2024-25 season split between San Jose, Pittsburgh and Vancouver. That split matters because Washington is committing four years to a defenseman whose most recent season was spread across three NHL teams, not locked into one role for a full year.
Desharnais after Edmonton
Desharnais also brings a recent track record from Edmonton. In 2023-24, he set career highs with 10 assists, 11 points and 41 shots in 78 regular-season games, then added one assist in 16 playoff games as Edmonton reached the Final in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Selected 183rd overall in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL Draft, Desharnais moved through Providence College and the Bakersfield Condors before establishing himself in the NHL. Washington is betting that his 6-foot-7 frame, plus the blocked shots and hits he produced last season, will carry over across the length of this deal.
The Capitals now have a veteran defenseman locked in through four seasons. How Desharnais is used over that span will depend on how Washington builds the rest of its blue line around him.
