Amateur Desjardins grew up in
Lively, Ontario, a small town located 20 km from the city of
Sudbury. He played his minor hockey in his home town and eventually for the nearby Onaping Falls Huskies AAA until the bantam level in the 2001–02 season. After that year, he was selected in the 15th round, 295th overall, of the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s 2002 Priority Selection by the
Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He spent the following 2002–03 season playing for the Rayside-Balfour SabreCats Midget AAA of the Great North Midget League and also saw some time with the
Espanola Screaming Eagles of the
NOJHL before making the Greyhounds roster the following year. Desjardins played four seasons (
2003 to
2007) of junior hockey in the OHL with Sault Ste. Marie.
Professional Despite being undrafted to the NHL, Desjardins turned professional for the
2007–08 season, suiting up for 64 regular season and 11 playoff games for the
Laredo Bucks of the
Central Hockey League (CHL). The following season,
2008–09, he played five games in the
ECHL with the
Phoenix RoadRunners and 74 regular season and 12 playoff games in the
American Hockey League (AHL) with the
Worcester Sharks. In the
2009–10 season, he played the entire year with Worcester. On June 26, 2010, the NHL's
San Jose Sharks, the parent team of the Worcester Sharks, signed Desjardins as a
free agent. He originally wore number 69 with the Sharks, becoming the second player in NHL history behind
Mel Angelstad to wear the number in a regular season game, though he later switched to number 10 following the departure of
Christian Ehrhoff. On March 2, 2015, Desjardins was traded to the
Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for winger
Ben Smith. Desjardins switched his jersey number to 11 upon arrival with Chicago, as 10 was currently in use by
Patrick Sharp. He would win the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks the same season. Desjardins signed a two-year contract worth $1.6 million on July 3 to stay with Chicago. According to his agent, "[Desjardins] loved his time there," and "took less to stay." At the conclusion of his contract, Desjardins was not re-signed by the Blackhawks and became an unrestricted free agent. On September 13, 2017, it was announced Desjardins would attend the
New York Rangers' training camp on a professional tryout agreement (PTO). Desjardins was suspended two preseason games for an illegal check to the head of
New Jersey Devils' forward
Miles Wood. On October 10, Desjardins was released by the Rangers and signed a deal with German
DEL side
Adler Mannheim for the 2017–18 season on October 12. Desjardins would play five seasons with Mannheim before playing two more season with
EC VSV of the
ICEHL. He retired on July 10, 2024 to accept an assistant coaching job with the
Sudbury Wolves. ==Career statistics==