Deslauriers Adds New Dimension To Canes' Team Toughness

RALEIGH, N.C. - Boasting the third-most points in the NHL as of Friday morning, the Carolina Hurricanes did not have many question marks in their lineup to address ahead of the 3 p.m. Trade Deadline.

But physicality is never in surplus, and 30 minutes before the market closed, the Canes made a bruising addition to their roster with the acquisition of Nicolas Deslauriers. 

Sending a conditional seventh-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Deslauriers' services, it was the right price for the right player in the eyes of Carolina General Manager Eric Tulsky.

“Nic’s a veteran. He’s a physical presence," said Tulsky. "He’s someone who has great character, does things the right way, makes the team harder to play against and generally just sort of adds the character and toughness that we wanted to bring to the group.”

No player has recorded more fighting majors than Deslauriers (88) since his debut season in 2014-15, with the 35-year-old earning a reputation as one of the league's toughest competitors. Penalty minutes are generally not something a player wants to pile up, but when accrued in the name of sticking up for a teammate, players like Deslauriers become some of the most revered members of a locker room.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, may not exactly be known for their fisticuffs, but team toughness shines through in different ways each game. Adding in Deslauriers' skill set simply adds a new factor for opponents to contend with, while strengthening Carolina's already cohesive dynamic.

"Ultimately, a lot of toughness is personal and internal. 'Am I going to take it or not?' That's what toughness is all about to me. It’s not really, ‘Do I have someone to take care of it for me?’ I think we have a group of guys that has that internal toughness, that has that fight. [Logan] Stankoven is the smallest guy in the world, and he’s grabbed guys and started fights when he thought it needed to happen, right? We do have that fire," said Tulsky.

"But, of course, it’s easier to have that toughness when you have a guy like Deslauriers out there with you. Providing that for when it feels like games are getting more intense and that might be useful to people, is something we wanted to look for.”

Having taken big swings ahead of recent deadlines, this time around, prices and availability precluded Tulsky from adding another of the "20 best players" to his lineup, which he said on Friday remains the goal.

However, in taking what was available, the Canes managed to augment a division-leading lineup with an addition that didn't create new holes in its wake.

“Every opportunity we get to try and make the team better, we’re going after it as hard as we can... The things we were looking at, the price we were getting offered, we felt like it would have been a step back both in the near term and going forward," Tulsky continued. "Of course (taking a swing), that’s our goal. There’s opportunities to make the team better around the draft, on free agent day, and at the trade deadline. We were fortunate that in the summer, we were able to add K’Andre (Miller), add Nik (Ehlers), and really make the team better in those areas. The opportunity wasn’t there to take the same size swing at the trade deadline, so we added a piece that will help round out our group a little bit, and we’ll move forward with what we have.”

Deslauriers is expected to join his new team following the Canes' current road trip. When he gets into a game for the first time will be up to Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour.

With just five weeks remaining in the regular season, the longstanding enforcer will quickly get acclimated with his new teammates, who, in turn, will get to know that there's a new level of snarl in black, red, and white.