In addition to signing Cooper Marody and Justin Braun, the Philadelphia Flyers and general manager Chuck Fletcher have dipped back into the Minnesota Wild pool and signed forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a 4-year deal, worth $1.75 million annually.
After what was deemed to be a summer of exotic adventures with blank cheques and big signings, the Flyers have seemingly scoffed at Johnny Gaudreau, didn’t want to move James van Riemsdyk if it meant trading a first round pick, and had no inkling on wanting to sign Nazem Kadri.
Deslauriers is a 9-year NHL veteran, who has had stops with the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, and Minnesota Wild. He was drafted in the 3rd round by the Los Angeles Kings in 2009 but was traded to the Sabres in a package that brought them Brayden McNabb. In 4 years with the Sabres, he played in 211 games, scored 12 goals and 30 points, accumulated 186 PIMs and 627 hits. He was then traded to the Canadiens in 2017, where he spent 2 seasons, played in 106 games, scored 12 goals and 19 points, and accumulated 77 PIMs and 373 hits. He was then traded to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth round pick, where he played in parts of 3 seasons, scored 17 goals and 33 points, and accumulated 235 PIMs and 483 hits, all before being traded to the Wild at the trade deadline last season. In 20 games he scored 3 goals and accumulated 23 PIMs and added 53 hits.
Deslauriers brings physicality, toughness, and will drop the gloves whenever needed. He is an energy guy, will bring that ferocity and buzz to the bottom 6, and if paired with Zack MacEwen, the Flyers will finally have more than one player willing and able to drop the gloves. He scored a career-high 10 goals with Montreal in 2017-18 and can bring in tertiary scoring, but it’s still not exactly what the Flyers promised their fans and the city back in January.
Nevertheless, the Flyers have added another enforcer and things should be a little more fun with Deslauriers around but the 4-year term is puzzling at best.
