Confirmed with Link: Canucks sign RD Vincent Desharnais 2-Year, $2M AAV Contract

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

i don't personally agree with this take but i think they want forbort for the pk. without cole they only have soucy on the left side to kill penalties and he's not the most durable guy

Desharnais is a better PKer than Forbort. A lot better, actually.

 

[credulous]

Desharnais is a better PKer than Forbort. A lot better, actually.

wrong handedness to play when soucy is out tho

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

wrong handedness to play when soucy is out tho

Handedness is not as big a deal for PKing defensemen IMO, since you're not looking for controlled zone exits.

 

[credulous]

Handedness is not as big a deal for PKing defensemen IMO, since you're not looking for controlled zone exits.

argue with foote about it, not me!

 

[vancityluongo]

regardless of what happens with desharnais i think this signing is open to criticism because they have 5 guys who struggle to win back and play out the puck amongst their 7d and the two that can do it both play on the same pairing

if desharnais was signed for like 500k less or they had another puck mover in the bottom six and they cut forbort then desharnais is probably fine and won't hurt at all

i just think it's a questionable signing when soucy, myers, juulsen and forbort were all already under contract

i don't disagree with this post. especially because the remaining free agent options are limited and it's hard to see how they make an upgrade in the trade market.

but that has nothing to do with the individual player evaluation of desharnais, which was the original point.

in terms of the construction of the d, i think it's harder to get the type of defenseman we've been stocking up on than a waterbug puck mover. like, tyson barrie will be available for a pto in september. kevin shattenkirk would probably take league minimum somewhere if he doesn't retire. if the group is missing that skillset in training camp, it should be easy enough to find.

they can also try out vinny with the best puck mover in the league in limited minutes and go soucy-hronek which could solve the issue too.

 

[MS]

i don't personally agree with this take but i think they want forbort for the pk. without cole they only have soucy on the left side to kill penalties and he's not the most durable guy

That's obviously something to take into account, but there are also guys who are a hell of a lot more skilled than Forbort who can still PK.

 

[strattonius]

Handedness is not as big a deal for PKing defensemen IMO, since you're not looking for controlled zone exits.

I don't think that's true. Handedness would drastically change passing lanes and blocking shots. Plus you want to clear the puck on your forehand

 

[credulous]

That's obviously something to take into account, but there are also guys who are a hell of a lot more skilled than Forbort who can still PK.

yeah i think they should try to upgrade forbort but i think this is why he'll get priority over desharnais on the roster

 

[DFAC]

My least favourite signing of the bunch - will give management and coaching the benefit of the doubt here. Hoping they can turn his game around like they did with Myers and Juulsen.

 

[MS]

He's a player I'm absolutely fascinated to see how he goes here, especially when the coaching staff is this high on him as a pet project.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I saw a lot of him with Bakersfield in the AHL in 21-22 and he was absolutely f***ing fantastic. He was a guy I'd never heard of who was 25 at the time and 6'7 and probably the best all-around defender in the AHL that year - +36 led the AHL and scored 27 ES points in 66 games which is barely worse than what Jack Rathbone put up that year in Abbotsford in his point-per-game season. Like, at that level at that point his puck skills were very impressive for a player of his size and you wonder if and how much more can be unlocked at the NHL level.

 

[Tact]

Yeah I agree the criticism should be the Forbort signing. I’m warming up to this signing, there seems to be potential there that the coaches have targeted. I just watched his interview and he has a great attitude and is excited to put in the work to being better and learning from Foote. He also acknowledges it’s going to be hard and won’t be easy - great mindset.


If there’s any untapped potential there, it’s a great stop gap for Willander. Best case scenario, he grows his game and leaves in two years with a payday.

This is what Tocchet wants - motivated players on short deals with potential to outperform their contracts.

Let’s see where it goes, they may not hit on their target but I understand the logic with this signing

 

[Jack Burton]

i don't disagree with this post. especially because the remaining free agent options are limited and it's hard to see how they make an upgrade in the trade market.

but that has nothing to do with the individual player evaluation of desharnais, which was the original point.

in terms of the construction of the d, i think it's harder to get the type of defenseman we've been stocking up on than a waterbug puck mover. like, tyson barrie will be available for a pto in september. kevin shattenkirk would probably take league minimum somewhere if he doesn't retire. if the group is missing that skillset in training camp, it should be easy enough to find.

they can also try out vinny with the best puck mover in the league in limited minutes and go soucy-hronek which could solve the issue too.

this.
Could definitely see them trying this out as it spreads the mobility & puck movement through out the d-corps. Also, if you start taking advantage of Hughes then your probably going to catch a dose of VD

Hughes-VD
Soucy-Hronek
Forbort-Myers
Friedman-Juulsen

Also, Let's also not forget about Abbotsford

Brisebois-Woo
Wolanin-McWard(only waivers exempt guy)

 

[Agent007]

I wonder if eventually the plan is to have Forbort become the 7th D and having signed him to hedge against not losing out. Best case VD can play with Hughes and they can target a LD to play with Hronek (legit number 3 guy). Then you go into the playoffs with Soucy-Myers as that bottom pair.

 

[vancityluongo]

He's a player I'm absolutely fascinated to see how he goes here, especially when the coaching staff is this high on him as a pet project.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I saw a lot of him with Bakersfield in the AHL in 21-22 and he was absolutely f***ing fantastic. He was a guy I'd never heard of who was 25 at the time and 6'7 and probably the best all-around defender in the AHL that year - +36 led the AHL and scored 27 ES points in 66 games which is barely worse than what Jack Rathbone put up that year in Abbotsford in his point-per-game season. Like, at that level at that point his puck skills were very impressive for a player of his size and you wonder if and how much more can be unlocked at the NHL level.

absolutely. he's a guy i was hugely impressed with last season and it's great that we had a perfect storm of the oilers picking the absolute wrong horse in ceci over desharnais, while having him interested in playing here.

this could obviously look very stupid, but i think he could be a #3/4 guy next to soucy by the end of the season. give me this contract every single day over zadorov (who again, was a borderline bottom pairing defenseman for the bulk of his career until getting to calgary, and then taking another step here in the playoffs).

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

He's a player I'm absolutely fascinated to see how he goes here, especially when the coaching staff is this high on him as a pet project.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I saw a lot of him with Bakersfield in the AHL in 21-22 and he was absolutely f***ing fantastic. He was a guy I'd never heard of who was 25 at the time and 6'7 and probably the best all-around defender in the AHL that year - +36 led the AHL and scored 27 ES points in 66 games which is barely worse than what Jack Rathbone put up that year in Abbotsford in his point-per-game season. Like, at that level at that point his puck skills were very impressive for a player of his size and you wonder if and how much more can be unlocked at the NHL level.

He came off really well in his interview with Halford and Brought this morning: Halford and Brough in the Morning (27 minutes in)

Came across as a really thoughtful, well-spoken guy, and conveyed the methodical, detail-oriented way he's improved his game. Can't wait to see him here.

 

[Burke's Evil Spirit]

absolutely. he's a guy i was hugely impressed with last season and it's great that we had a perfect storm of the oilers picking the absolute wrong horse in ceci over desharnais, while having him interested in playing here.

this could obviously look very stupid, but i think he could be a #3/4 guy next to soucy by the end of the season. give me this contract every single day over zadorov (who again, was a borderline bottom pairing defenseman for the bulk of his career until getting to calgary, and then taking another step here in the playoffs).

It's not stupid at all. This guy seems to take a meteoric leap in development every year. From being ECHL fodder in 20-21 to a high-end AHL defender in 21-22, to being a replacement level NHL defender in 22-23 to being an elite shot suppression/PK guy in 23-24. Another step like that he could very easily be a top 4 piece.

 

[BWJM]

Just watched his interview, happy we got this guy. Hope he doesn't become a punching bag for us with mistakes.

 

[tradervik]

Just watched his interview, happy we got this guy. Hope he doesn't become a punching bag for us with mistakes.

Same here. He came across as very engaging, a "good vibes" guy for sure. If he can do the Griddy, we may soon forget Zadorov.

 

[VanJack]

Probably a slight overpayment for Desharnais, but you can live with a two-year agreement. If it doesn't work out, you've always got Friedman or even Wilander eventually, waiting in the wings.

 

[TruGr1t]

Desharnais is a better PKer than Forbort. A lot better, actually.

Eh maybe, recently more comparable, but Forbort has way more of a track record doing it (usually averages ~3 mins per game short-handed). He's been on the Bruins leading PK pair with Carlo for a few seasons, and Boston has had a top 10 (regularly top 3) PK for that period. Desharnais did really well for the Oilers in the playoffs when his PK minutes jumped to near 3 mins, but was largely on their second PK pair with Ekholm in the regular season. They are both basically elite in this regard:

 

[F A N]

There was no upside. He was a veteran journeyman basically, and had shown zero offensive ability to that point. He was intended to be a 4/5 D that could maybe caddy Hughes, and $2.5M for that in the flat cap era was more than worth what Poolman was projected to provide.

I would waaaaay rather pay Desharnais 2x2 than the next Poolman 2.5 x 4.

Poolman only played for one organization prior to joining the Canucks. By definition he wasn't a journeyman. I don't think we're going to agree here which is fine.

 

[Bleach Clean]

The only concern with Desharnais is his puck moving ability. Can he do it to the level of a Juulsen? If so, then there is a player here because he does almost everything else the same or better than Juulsen.

It's the right type of project to take on, but it's an ill fit next to Forbort. So it's not so much a criticism of Desharnais as it is the puck moving ability of the 3rd pair overall.

In the end, if you're going to lose out on Carrier and Walker, this is not a bad alternative at all.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Like this signing. Biggest area of concern on defence in the playoffs was surprisingly Hughes-Hronek, never would’ve assumed that in a million years, but they were getting absolutely hammered out there, the playoffs are a totally different animal, Myers-Soucy were bending but not breaking and pushing back, Zadorov obviously held his own, but Hughes-Hronek needed to be sheltered in the playoffs which was concerning.

 

[ManVanFan]

Vinny D PPGA per 60 was 8.30
Forbort PPGA per 60 was 7.39

Only Cole and Hronek were worse than that last year for players that played the PK on the Canucks.

 

[ManVanFan]

Like this signing. Biggest area of concern on defence in the playoffs was surprisingly Hughes-Hronek, never would’ve assumed that in a million years, but they were getting absolutely hammered out there, the playoffs are a totally different animal, Myers-Soucy were bending but not breaking and pushing back, Zadorov obviously held his own, but Hughes-Hronek needed to be sheltered in the playoffs which was concerning.

Hughes-Hronek held a
50% actual goal
53.2% expected goals
54% Corsi

They were probably the 5th best pairing in the playoffs and they weren't sheltered at all.