Minnesota Wild acquire Nicolas Deslauriers from Anaheim Ducks for mid-round draft pick

The Minnesota Wild have acquired winger Nicolas Deslauriers from the Anaheim Ducks for a third-round pick. The move comes only a few short days after they acquired Tyson Jost from the Colorado Avalanche in another move to shore up their bottom-six forward depth.

Deslauriers, 31, is a pretty straightforward, meat-and-potatoes type of player; a pugilist from the NHL of old. He's a tough customer, with 90 penalty minutes to his credit in 61 games this season. He's also amassed 10 points in those appearances, for whatever that's worth, but it's hard to imagine the Wild are acquiring him for his offensive ability. He's also a capable penalty killer, per my colleague JFresh's invaluable player cards.

Nicolas Deslauriers, traded to MIN, is a physical depth player who kills penalties. #MNWild pic.twitter.com/KxMoCDx0gy

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 19, 2022

This is a pretty straightforward rental deal. Deslauriers is a pending unrestricted free agent, playing in the final season of a two-year pact that costs $1 million against the cap.

The Ducks now have a third-round pick in this year's draft, which wasn't the case going into the weekend, the result of switching out this year's third for the Montréal Canadiens third-round pick in the last draft to grab Tyson Hinds at 76th overall.