- Nicolas Deslauriers played seven regular-season games for Carolina and still got his name on the Stanley Cup
- The Hurricanes petitioned the Commissioner to add him, and GM Eric Tulsky delivered the news himself
- Read below for what Deslauriers said about seeing his name and how his day with the Cup went
Nicolas Deslauriers played seven regular-season games for the Carolina Hurricanes. His name is on the Stanley Cup anyway.
The 35-year-old forward got his day with the Cup on Friday in North Wildwood, New Jersey, and he still hasn’t shaken the feeling of seeing it engraved. Deslauriers walked Adam Kimelman of NHL.com through the phone call from general manager Eric Tulsky that made it happen:
“I got a call I think on the day before the (championship celebration) parade talking about what I did for the organization. It was a long, 15-minute talk with me and Tulsky, and then he said that they petitioned for my name and that it was actually not hard and asked me how I wanted to write it on. Still thinking about it gives me chills.”
Players normally need 41 regular-season games or one appearance in the Stanley Cup Final to earn a spot on the trophy. Deslauriers had seven regular-season games and one playoff game, Game 4 against the Senators in the first round.
A stipulation added in 1994 lets a club petition the Commissioner to add a player who falls short. Carolina filed the paperwork without hesitating, and Deslauriers now sits on the same band as Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin.
Tulsky explained why the decision took no debate:
“Nic was there in the room with the guys every single day from April to June. And regardless of how many games he played, he was part of the team.”
Canes special adviser Justin Williams, who spent Friday alongside him, put it more bluntly when asked whether Deslauriers belonged on the Cup:
“He was getting on. There would have been a mutiny if we didn’t let him on.”
North Wildwood became the family’s vacation spot during his four seasons with the Flyers, and he and his wife, Joanie, closed on a house there June 30. Deslauriers took the trophy home for family photos before hauling it to Seaport Pier, where more than 1,100 fans lined up.
City hall got involved too. Watch the mayor read a proclamation making July 17 Nicolas Deslauriers Day:
Carolina picked him up from Philadelphia on March 6 for a conditional seventh-round pick, about as small as a deadline move gets. He signed a two-year extension at the parade a few months later.
Thirteen seasons and six teams in, Deslauriers spent Friday afternoon tracking down his own name on the barrel and taking a long look at it:
“It’s just so special to have your name on it, and just looking at how many are there, it seems like a lot when you look at it, but there’s a lot of NHL players that don’t have the chance to have it, and I’m fortunate enough.”
