Penguins hope Vincent Desharnais can bring 'snarl,' continue settling in

Vincent Desharnais’ recent experience of being traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the Pittsburgh Penguins was tumultuous.

Informed late the night of Jan. 31 along with Canucks winger Danton Heinen about being a part of the trade that sent Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to the Canucks, Desharnais was on a plane to Pittsburgh at the crack of dawn the following morning.

Since then, Desharnais, who suited up for the Penguins for the first time Feb. 1 only hours after arriving in Pittsburgh, has had to acclimate to unfamiliar surroundings — a new country, city, team and teammates among other things.

But one aspect inherent to being traded — identifying new living arrangements — was conveniently taken care of quickly upon touching down in Pittsburgh.

That was a result of he and O’Connor subleasing each other’s former apartments.

“It’s been a chaotic last few days and just to find something that’s convenient, easy, is going to get the job done — I don’t have to do anything, reach out to anyone, I trust (O’Connor), so I can just move into his place the 18th or the 19th and not have to worry about it,” Desharnais said.

“My apartment is fully furnished, so he’s just going to move in with his stuff and then (O’Connor) had furniture in his apartment, so he’s just going to leave it there. I’m just going to stay there until the end of the season.”

Desharnais originally detailed the apartment swap, which both he and O’Connor doubtless found to be opportune, to reporter Jean-Francois Chaumont in a article on the NHL’s French-language website, NHL.com/fr.

Desharnais’ new teammate in Pittsburgh, fellow defenseman P.O Joseph, was instrumental in helping to arrange the switch.

“He was great,” Desharnais said. “It’s nice to know some guys, and I’ve known P.O for many years now. I just asked him about where the guys lived, if he had a place and he told me, ‘Well, you should reach out to (O’Connor).’ He sent me his number and said to ask him if he wanted to switch.”

As the Penguins headed into the 4 Nations Face-Off break, Desharnais said he’d not toured or even seen pictures of O’Connor’s digs.

But being able to get settled quickly eased the transition for the 28-year-old defenseman, who appeared in all four of the Penguins’ games before the two-week pause in NHL action, averaging 15 minutes on the club’s third pairing opposite Ryan Graves.

The moment he put on a Penguins sweater Feb. 1 against the Nashville Predators, Desharnais, who’s 6-foot-7, quickly became one of the tallest players in franchise history.

Only Steve McKenna (6-8), who appeared in 162 games for the Penguins between 2000-04, stood taller.

For coach Mike Sullivan, Desharnais’ size, which blends into his overall game, offers a bit of a different look from the rest of the team’s defensive corps.

“His size and reach, I think, is very helpful,” Sullivan said. “He’s hard to play against. He just takes up space. He has a long reach, he makes the entries difficult and he’s got a little edge to him. He’s got a little snarl to his game, which I think helps us at the net front. It helps us in the battle areas.

“He earns his ice out there in so many ways with his abrasive game. I think that game is a welcomed addition to the group that we have.”

AP

Penguins forward Emil Bemstrom, left, and defenseman Vincent Desharnais, right, try to stop the New York Rangers’ K’Andre Miller on Feb. 7.

Desharnais, originally a seventh-round draft pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2016, gravitated towards NHL blue-liners with similar bodies as role models growing up — Zdeno Chara more than anyone.

Desharnais, a veteran of 152 NHL contests over parts of four seasons with Edmonton (2022-24), Vancouver (2024-25) and now the Penguins, also looked to emulate St. Louis Blues alternate captain Colton Parakyo and the Canucks’ Tyler Myers.

Desharnais said his body type seems cut more from a bygone era of the NHL compared to now, where smaller, more mobile defenseman such as teammates Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson are increasingly in vogue.

“The guys that are coming in are faster and faster every year,” Desharnais said. “Every year, the league’s getting faster, so for (me as) a big guy, you’ve got to make sure you stay explosive, your feet stay fast and (you) use the long body and reach.”

Still, Desharnais, who was a healthy scratch with Vancouver for 17 games earlier this season, is hoping he can carve out a role with the Penguins.

One department he’s looking forward to contributing to is the penalty kill, where already he’s averaging 1:07 of short-handed action.

“That’s my bread and butter, I would say,” Desharnais said. “I love to play on the penalty kill. I take a lot of pride on the kill. … I just want to make our (penalty kill) really hard, and I want power plays to kind of scratch their heads and try to figure out ways to beat us.”

To date, Sullivan has deployed him in a somewhat sheltered fashion with Graves, steadily increasingly Desharnais’ exposure to the Penguins’ team structure and system.

Moving forward, the Penguins hope Desharnais can continue to grow in his new environment.

“I feel every team has their own things that they like to do, but it’s nothing complicated,” Desharnais said. “It’s just a few things to get used to. The coaches have done a pretty good job as far as guiding me. … Overall, it’s been good.”