Nicolas Deslauriers Autographed Card

In the past two months, 6'3", 219-pound Nicolas Deslauriers has fought other NHL heavyweights, such as:

Radko Gudas of the Washington Capitals on December 6th:

Kurtis MacDermid of the Los Angeles Kings on December 13th:

Chris Stewart of the Philadelphia Flyers on December 17th:

Michael Haley of the New York Rangers on December 22nd:

Austin Watson of the Nashville Predators, January 5th:

Jamie Oleksiak of the Dallas Stars on January 9th:

MacDermid of the Kings again on February 1st:

Zac Rinaldo of the Calgary Flames on February 13th:

In a league that averages less than half a fight per game, Deslauriers has seemingly fought every other day to become the league leader with 12, five more than Watson, in second place. And the Anaheim Ducks seem to love it, because he was extended for two more seasons with an annual cap hit of $1M.

Sure, the Ducks need to have players signed who will be available for the Seattle Expansion Draft, but chances are the new team will try to imitate the Vegas Golden Knights and focus on speed and possession stats more than pugilism skills.

Still, kudos to the 29-year-old former third-round pick who was considered a long shot to be a power forward with the Kings then reinvented himself as a tough checker and teammate protector with the Buffalo Sabres when it didn't pan out in grey and purple.

Here he is from his days terrorizing LHJMQ teams as a member of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, on card #117 from In The Game's 2009-10 Heroes And Prospects set:

It shows him wearing the team's clack (away) uniform; he signed it in blue sharpie last season, before he was traded by the Montréal Canadiens.

Nicolas Deslauriers Autographed Card

It was Nicolas Deslauriers' dream to one day play in the NHL for the Montréal Canadiens, and he got to live it through parts of two seasons for 106 games. Unfortunately, he came to the organization at a time where being a local kid is frowned upon by management, and where a single mistake means getting scratched by head coach Claude Julien for anywhere from three to 22 games.

He's now suiting up for the surprising Anaheim Ducks, providing energy, hard checks, a veteran example to follow and rest for other fourth-line grinders by eating up a few minutes here and there every other game. The Habs got a fourth-round pick in 2020 in exchange for his services, and both teams are currently fighting for a playoff spot, Anaheim one game above .500 (7-6) while Montréal is one below (5-4-1-1, for five wins and six losses).

He knew his time was up with the Canadiens and is happy he got to remain in the NHL instead of being demoted to the AHL's Laval Rocket, where hometown players seem to end up under this regime.

He signed this card for me in blue sharpie at a charity golf tournament this summer:

It's #208 from Upper Deck's 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee set, showing him wearing the Habs' classic red (home) uniform.

Nicolas Deslauriers Autograph Card

When the Montréal Canadiens traded for Nicolas Deslauriers, they expected to receive a hometown boy who would hover between the fourth line and the AHL - which is essentially what they got.

They were also lucky enough to get a career-high 10 goals from him in 2017-18 (in just 58 games), as well as a points-collecting pace (14 points) that was unseen in his three-plus seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, and a steady array of fighting majors and tough guy penalties that was expected from the 6'1", 220-pounder.

This year, after starting out on injured reserve following a tough preseason fight against the New Jersey Devils' Brandon Baddock, he came back to a changed team, one that was surprisingly fighting for a playoff spot instead of draft lottery placement as many pundits had predicted.

That meant he no longer had leeway to make defensive mistakes under head coach Claude Julien, but also that Julien would likely scratch him altogether from time to time to instead dress two centers on the fourth line. Julien's one of those old-school unforgiving coaches who thinks he'll outsmart the opposing coach using baseball relief pitching tactics instead of the best possible lineup.

So, in 2018-19, Deslauriers only dressed in 48 games, all told, with 2 goals and 3 assists (5 points) and 22 penalty minutes to show for it, after going 10-4-15 with 55 PIMs last year. Oddly enough, when his mind was at ease, he was a +7 playing on a bottom-feeder last year yet is -12 playing for a team that'll finish in ninth-place in the Eastern Conference this year.

I'll try to get him to sign stuff in a Habs uniform next year, but for now, let's contemplate what he looked like wearing the Sabres' white (away) uniform, on the signed insert version of card #275 from Upper Deck's 2014-15 SP Authentic set and Future Watch sub-set:

It features a blue-sharpied on-card autograph. It's numbered #483/999.