Canucks lose one giant D-man in Nikita Zadorov in free agency but add another in Vincent Desharnais

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Can we say the Vancouver Canucks have replaced 6-foot-6, 248-pound defenceman Nikita Zadorov with 6-foot-7, 226-pound defenceman Vincent Desharnais?

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The Canucks announced Monday afternoon following the opening fury of free agency that they had inked Desharnais, 28, to a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2 million per season. He played the past two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, where he had a cap hit of $762,500.

Vancouver, by various reports, had made a pitch to get a contract extension with Zadorov — the midseason pickup from the Calgary Flames who was so good for Vancouver in the playoffs, including against the Oilers and Desharnais in the second round.

Vancouver and Zadorov, 29, couldn’t get a deal done and general manager Patrik Allvin told the media Friday that Zadorov was going to go to free agency. He inked a six-year deal with a $6 million cap hit per season on Monday with the Boston Bruins.

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Desharnais had one goal, 11 points and a plus-three rating in 78 regular season games with the Oilers this past season, playing nearly 16 minutes per game. He saw 17:14 of ice in 16 playoff games with Edmonton, and had one assist and a minus-nine rating. He was listed as a healthy scratch at times during the post-season; he got into just one game against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

His playoff ice time included an average of 2:57 of penalty kill time per game, which was the leading average for the Oilers in the playoffs. He averaged 2:02 of PK time in the regular season, which was tied for third-highest average on the Oilers.

This current Canucks regime, featuring Allvin and coach Rick Tocchet, has shown a preference for big, rangy defencemen.

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Desharnais is from Laval, Que., but he played in the BCHL in 2014-15 with the Chilliwack Chiefs, on his way to a four-year turn in the NCAA with Providence College. He was a 2016 seventh-round pick of the Oilers.

Zadorov averaged 17:04 of ice time in the regular season for Vancouver, including 1:33 of PK. In the playoffs, his ice time average was 20:09, with 2:08 on the PK. He was sixth among Vancouver rearguards in ice time per game in the regular season but jumped to third in the playoffs.

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