Vincent Desharnais has been scratched by the Vancouver Canucks

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Finnegan Frost
October 11, 2024 (2:38 PM)

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Former Edmonton Oilers defenseman Vincent Desharnais has been scratched by the Vancouver Canucks just one game into the regular season.

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed today that Vincent Desharnais and Nils Aman are coming out of the lineup. Noah Juulsen and Pius Suter will be taking their spots as the Canucks take on the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tocchet also revealed that Kevin Lankinen will be the starting goalie tonight. He was signed during training camp to provide additional depth at the position while Thatcher Demko remains out with an injury.

According to Liam McCormick of Oilers Daily, Vancouver lost their first game of the season against a rebuilding Flames team due to an extremely leaky defence, and Desharnais was one of the weakest players. Paired with a similar big-bodied stay at home defenceman in Derek Forbort, the pair was struggling to break the puck out of their own zone with quality passes. Desharnais himself had his pocket picked by Jonathan Huberdeau early on in the game, and things didn't improve from there. He only played 13 minutes, got 4 penalty minutes, and was a -2.

Vincent Desharnais was virtually an unknown player last season, but rapidly grew in popularity after being called up from the Bakersfield Condors. Assistant coach Paul Coffey made it his mission to develop Desharnais into a full time NHL'er, and Vinny started gaining lots of traction at the pro level. Despite being a scratch for the last round of the 2024 postseason, Desharnais definitely made a name for himself in Oil Country.

Now, Desharnais will be looking to get his game under control as the Canucks have benched him after one regular season game.