It’s been a long road for Chilliwack Chiefs alum Vincent Desharnais, but it looks like he’s about to make his National Hockey League debut. The Edmonton Oilers have called up the big blueliner from the minors and it’s a good bet he’ll be in the lineup Wednesday (Jan. 11) as they visit the Anaheim Ducks.
“Really exciting! He was a pleasure to coach! I hope he plays well!” said Paul Nicholls, a former Chilliwack Chiefs coach, on Facebook.
Desharnais spent the 2014-15 season with the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs before moving on to four seasons with the NCAA’s Province Friars. He turned pro in 2019-20.
This season the 27-year-old has been playing for the California-based Bakersfield Condors where he has collected two assists and 19 penalty minutes in 13 games. The six-foot-six and 216 pound defender led the American Hockey League (AHL) with a plus-36 plus/minus rating last season, a testament to his defense-first game. In 122 AHL games over four seasons, the Quebec kid has registered 39 points.
Edmonton selected him in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL entry draft and he signed his first NHL contract in March of 2022. He has spent the last three seasons with Bakersfield and the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder.
RELATED: Quiet efficiency from rookie Chiefs blueliner
RELATED: Chilliwack Chiefs well represented in NCAA Frozen Four tournament
@ProgressSports
eric.welsh@theprogress.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.