Nicolas Deslauriers was traded to the Minnesota Wild by the Anaheim Ducks for a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft on Saturday.
“Seems to fit the Minnesota Wild. Plays a hard game. Plays gritty. He’s got a skill set, too, that can score,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “Is going to provide us with size (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) and bite and play up and down our lineup. We’re excited. Certainly a guy that we’ve identified for a bit now that’s a pain in the butt to play against. He’ll now be a Minnesota Wild pain in the butt.”
The 31-year-old forward scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) and had 90 penalty minutes in 61 games for the Ducks this season. He can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Selected in the third round (No. 84) of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, Deslauriers has scored 82 points (41 goals, 41 assists) and has 498 penalty minutes in 486 games with the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Ducks.
“I think our depth has been good, but I think this makes it a little bit better,” Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin said. “I think Nic brings a certain abrasiveness to his game that we all like, and we agreed that he’s a guy that would make us better. We saw him a lot last year, and we’ve been following him a lot this year. He brings a physical nature to the game, leadership, sticks up for his teammates, he kills penalties. He’s definitely a good add.
“He’s an everyday player.”
[RELATED:Â NHL Trade Tracker]
The Ducks also traded defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran to the Boston Bruins on Saturday for defensemen John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2023 draft and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
The moves come less than a week after Anaheim traded defenseman Josh Manson to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman prospect Drew Helleson and a second-round pick in the 2023 draft on March 14.
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