Wild continued to pick with his lineup before the NHL trade deadline on Monday, this time strengthening his power by moving forward Nicolas Deslauriers of Anaheim on Saturday in exchange for the 2023 third-round draft pick.
Earlier in the week, the Wild transformed its fourth-line center by buying it Tyson Jost from Colorado fir Nico Sturm.
“Nic brings a certain abrasiveness to his game that we all love, and we agreed that he is a guy who would make us better,” General Manager Bill Guerin said. “We saw him a lot last year, and we followed him a lot this year. He brings a physical nature to the game, the leadership, standing up for his teammates. He chills penalties. He’s definitely a good addition. “
Deslauriers led the Ducks in penalty minutes (90), and his 10 fights are tied for most in the NHL.
Through 61 games, he chipped the 6-1, 220-pound left shot into five goals and five assists and scored 41 goals and 41 assists for 82 points in 486 career games with Anaheim, Montreal and Buffalo.
Originally, Deslauriers was eliminated in the third round in 2009 by Los Angeles. The 31-year-old is on a one-year, two-year, $ 2 million contract and is eligible for unlimited free agency in the offseason.
The guarantor expects Deslauriers to practice with the Wild on Sunday before making his team debut on Monday against Vegas.
“Seems to fit the Minnesota Wild,” Coach said Dean Evason said. “Play a hard game. Play gruesome. He also has a skill set that can score. [He’s] give us size and bite and play up and down our formation. We are excited. “
Mixed bag
By beating the Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center, the Wilds beat the season series (4-0) but the team was not as effective against some of the other competition in the Central Division.
Outside of Chicago, the Wild is 5-8-1 against its rivals with recent losses in Nashville and Dallas before two losses come just a week outside of Winnipeg from the All-Star break.
“We’re trying to climb the leaderboard,” Center said Ryan Hartmann said, “and that needs to beat those teams in our division.”
This Wild’s last win was the first in the team’s division since the last time it beat the Blackhawks on February 2nd; the Wild did not have a non-Chicago win against a central opponent as it won 5-2 against Arizona on November 30th.
And then there are matches with Avalanche, Predators, Blues and Stars.
“On the track, these are all four-point players,” Goalkeeper Cam Talbot said. “So, no excuse this time of year. We just have to be better against those teams and if we play like we played the last few games, I like our chances.”
On a roll
Talbot was the standout on Saturday, scoring 21 shots with a handful of those attempts to stop challenges.
In total, he has won his last five starts, the third time this season he is on a 5-0 run or better.
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