Flyers Make a Free Agent Splash with Nicolas Deslauriers

Hold onto your seats Flyers fans. Chuck Fletcher made a big deal today, signing veteran forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a four year deal worth 1.9M per year. Whoo hoo! I know everyone was waiting for Johnny Gaudreau, Vincent Trocheck, or a reunion with Claude Giroux but this will have to do for now.

It is the second deal of the day after the Flyers re-signed Justin Braun to a one year deal.

Deslauriers is probably going to assume the role that Nate Thompson was supposed to add to the fourth line. He has a reputation for being a big, physical presence. If John Tortorella wants a group of guys who will battle for the puck, he is a guy who will do it.  He has spent time in Buffalo, Anaheim, and Montreal.

This past year, the Canadiens dealt him to the Minnesota Wild for a 2023 third round pick. He scored three goals in 20 games down the stretch for the Wild and averaged eight minutes of ice time in Minnesota’s playoff.

His career high in goals is 10 in 2017-18. Overall, he has scored 44 goals in 506 games in his nine year career. His career high in points is 15, in his second season as a Buffalo Sabre. Again, he is not going to be someone who is going to light the lamp up, although he did have a hat trick for the Ducks in 2019.

Deslauriers’s true value comes in his grinding style of play. The Flyers, having a lot of young players called up do the plethora of injuries last season, got pushed around a lot. There were many, many, many games that it seemed like they had it in the bag only to lose it in the third period. Deslauriers may help end a lot of these late game slides and help steady some of the younger players.

With Braun back in the fold and the signing of Deslauriers, the Flyers are getting bigger, but they are also getting older with valuable veteran presence. Hopefully, the Flyers are not done making moves yet.