Desjardins grew up in the small town of Lively, Ontario, and played his minor hockey for the Onaping Falls Huskies 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 's 2002 Priority Selection by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He spent the following 2002–03 season playing for the Rayside-Balfour SabreCats Midgets of the Great North Midget League before making the Greyhounds roster the following year. Desjardins played four seasons of junior hockey in the OHL with Sault Ste. Marie.
Professional
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. 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 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. 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, " 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. 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 Deutsche Eishockey Liga side Adler Mannheim for the 2017–18 season on October 12.
