Born on the island of Sardinia, in the municipality of Ozieri, Italy, raised in Oberageri, Switzerland, and groomed for his professional career in Lethbridge, Alberta, Sbisa traveled a circuitous route to hockey's highest level.

Sbisa, who is fluent in English, French, Italian and German, made the leap to North American junior hockey in order to make himself more NHL ready and more available for viewing by scouts. After scoring 33 points in 62 games for Lethbridge in the Western Hockey League, the Philadelphia Flyers selected Sbisa with the No. 19 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft.

Despite being considered one of the organization's top prospects, he never really gained a foothold with the Flyers, and on June 26, 2009, Sbisa was traded to the Anaheim Ducks.

A change in outlook and organization benefited the 6-foot-2, 198-pound defenseman. He played 68 games in 2010-11 and 80 in 2011-2012. Impressed by his growing dependability and appetite for contact, the Ducks signed Sbisa to a four-year contract extension on March 8, 2011.

After missing 26 games in the 2013-14 season because of a torn tendon in right hand, Sbisa was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on June 27, 2014.

Sbisa played 76 games with the Canucks in 2014-15, and with Vancouver readying for a first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Calgary Flames, Sbisa signed a three-year contract extension on April 8, 2015.