Ted Nolan loves his hockey to be played heavy and aggressively.
On Memorial Day, Tim Murray signed a key cog to the Sabres core by inking power forward Nicolas Deslauriers (6’1…, 230 lbs) to a two year, one way contract. Deslauriers impressed Tim Murray and Ted Nolan by playing a heavy, aggressive style in the final weeks of the regular season. Deslauriers was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings along with Hudson Fasching on March 5, 2014. He made his NHL debut with the Sabres and finished the season by playing 17 of the club's last 20 games.
"Nick was able to step in and compete in every situation we put him in," Sabres GM Tim Murray told sabres.com.
"We're confident that he will be an important part of our organization going forward."
Prior to being acquired by the Sabres, Deslauriers led the Manchester Monarchs in goals (18) and shots (217). He finished the AHL season with 42 points (19 G, 23 A) in 65 games in his first professional season as a forward. He added two points (1+1) in five playoff games with the Amerks.
Deslauriers has a pretty simple role on the Sabres:
You touch Ennis, Hodgson, Girgensons, Foligno, Stafford, Grigorenko, Armia, et al, and you'll get your ass kicked for it.
Deslauriers adds size, strength, snarl, and skill to the young Sabres' lineup during this re-tooling period, much the same way that Paul Gaustad provided backbone to the post 2004-2005 lockout Sabres lineup.
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