RELEASE: Desharnais selected as Oilers nominee for Masterton Trophy

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) announced Friday that defenceman Vincent Desharnais is the Oilers nominee for the 2023-24 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

The Masterton Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The winner is selected in a poll of all chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season.

The 27-year-old Desharnais is in his first full NHL season, suiting up for 70 games with the Oilers while scoring one goal and 10 assists with a plus-five rating and 52 penalty minutes.

The 6-foot-7 blueliner from Laval, Que., was drafted in the seventh round (183rd overall) during the 2016 NHL Draft and played four seasons at Providence College between 2015 and 2019.

Desharnais split the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons between the ECHL's Wichita Thunder and AHL's Bakersfield Condors, before becoming a full-time Condor during the 2021-22 campaign.

He played 13 games with Bakersfield during an injury-shortened first half of last season before earning his first NHL call-up on Jan. 9, 2023, suiting up for 36 games with Edmonton to finish the regular season and 12 more during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.