Vincent Desjardins (C, R, 5’10”, 155, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, 09/08/2006)
2024 NHL Draft Grade: C
Season stats 2023/24:
Games played:75
Goals: 18
Assists: 36
Points: 54
+/-: -20
Penalty time: 16:00
Penalty time against: 26:00
Average per game
Time on ice: 18:04
Power play time: 03:28
Short-handed time: 00:39
Shots: 4.6
Shots on goal, %: 56%
Faceoffs won, %: 46%
Puck battles: 15
Puck battles won, %: 51%
Accurate passes, %: 84%
Hits: 0.23
Hits against: 1.03
Vincent Desjardins, standing at 5’10” and weighing 160 pounds, showcases strong skating abilities with good speed, albeit needing improvement in explosiveness. His low center of gravity and solid edges make him difficult to dispossess, contributing to his effectiveness as a two-way center. Desjardins demonstrates excellent puck skills, adeptly shielding the puck and displaying great vision and passing ability.
In terms of offensive play, Desjardins utilizes his explosive acceleration to win races to loose pucks and create scoring opportunities. He shows awareness and responsibility in the defensive zone, maintaining positioning and contributing to backchecking efforts. His passes are crisp and accurate, facilitating offensive plays without unnecessary stickhandling.
During gameplay, Desjardins exhibits high agility and quick feet, allowing him to create space offensively and pressure opponents defensively. His work rate and pace earn him significant ice time, indicating his importance to the team’s strategy. Despite his size, Desjardins shows determination and effectiveness in his play, earning recognition for his impact on the game.
While Desjardins may face size-related concerns in the NHL draft, his performance and impact on the ice merit attention and consideration. His abilities suggest potential for impactful play at the professional level, despite any perceived limitations.
QMJHL Cup, May 1, 2022: Desjardins is a quick, agile, shifty playmaker out of St. Eustache Vikings. He’s light on his feet, he has excellent change of direction and first step quickness and swift hands. He could separate in just a few steps, had clever spin and curl back moves in the corners and on the rush to shake free and once he got open ice he was poised and skilled. He could make defenders miss, he could side step, deke or simply blow by them on the rush and made savvy, skilled passes into the slot area to set up his teammates. If the defense was collapsing on him in zone and his forwards were well covered then he engaged his points and fed them the puck and then hustled to the net for tips and rebound chances. He finished the tournament with 3 assists in 4 games but had several scoring chances; he just didn’t quite have the strength or power in his release to beat the goalie. Vincent will need to improve his balance and strength to be more impactful in traffic areas and around the net and continue to work on his shot so he can finish the chances he creates for himself with his footwork and puck skill. He’s only 137lbs which is light to be an early impact forward at the QMJHL level but there are very few forwards in this draft class who can make plays at the level of pace that Vincent does.