Ducks trade Deslauriers to Wild
The Minnesota Wild acquired forward Nicolas Deslauriers from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick, the teams announced Saturday.
Deslauriers is a pending unrestricted free agent and carries a cap hit of $1 million. He has five goals and five assists in 61 contests this season. The 6-foot-1 winger leads all Ducks skaters with 210 hits while averaging almost 12 minutes of ice time a night.
Minnesota head coach Dean Evason approves of the physical penalty killer's style of play.
"It's going to provide us with size and bite and can play up and down our lineup, so we're excited," Evason said, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo. "Certainly a guy that we've identified for a bit now that's a pain in the butt to play against, so he'll now be a Minnesota Wild pain in the butt."
The 31-year-old ranks 12th in the league in hits since the 2014-15 season.
Deslauriers was the Los Angeles Kings' third-round pick in 2009 and has logged 82 career points in 486 NHL games.