- Nicolas Deslauriers signed a two-year, $1.75 million deal to stay in Carolina
- GM Eric Tulsky announced it on stage at the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup parade
- Read below for the terms, the deadline trade, and the parade moment
Nicolas Deslauriers found out his future in front of thousands of screaming fans.
The Hurricanes re-signed the 35-year-old forward to a two-year contract on Saturday, and they did it in the most Carolina way possible. General manager Eric Tulsky announced the deal on stage during the team’s Stanley Cup championship parade in downtown Raleigh.
Here’s the moment it went down:
It’s a $1.75 million deal in total, with an average annual value of $875,000. That number is the league minimum, and the contract kicks in next season. Deslauriers was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Tulsky explained why the team wanted the veteran back.
“Nic has fit in with our locker room and culture from day one when he got to Raleigh. He provides a veteran presence and adds a physical element to our roster.”
Carolina picked up Deslauriers from the Flyers on March 6, right before the trade deadline. He played seven games down the stretch and added one assist. He never cracked the playoff run, but the room clearly wanted him back for the title defense.
See Deslauriers out front as the parade kicked off:
He’s logged plenty of NHL miles. Los Angeles drafted him 84th overall in 2009, and he’s since worn the jersey for Buffalo, Montreal, Anaheim, Minnesota, Philadelphia and now Carolina. He owns 106 points over 708 regular-season games, split right down the middle at 53 goals and 53 assists.
Raleigh packed downtown to celebrate the team’s second Stanley Cup, its first since 2006.
Take a look at the scene in Raleigh:
Deslauriers spent more than a decade grinding for six different teams before he got his name on the Cup. Carolina just locked him in for two more cracks at it.
