Nic Deslauriers is just an insanely easy guy to root for and while his time with the Philadelphia Flyers is almost certainly over (and has been since he was traded at the deadline), it is nice to remember what he represented while he was here. Maybe not the most skilled guy on the ice, or the fastest, or the best forechecker, or the most defensively solid, but he sure could fight.
So, do you really want to read a big blog about what Deslauriers did on the ice during actual play? You clicked, so you tell me.
Of course you don’t! Why would you click on a player review of Nic Deslauriers, who isn’t even on this team anymore, if you don’t want to reminisce about all the fun times we had when he would drop his gloves and treat an opponent’s face like the several pounds of flesh it was.
Check this one out:
That was fun. That ended up being Deslauriers’s last fight in the orange and black.
Okay, what about this one:
He went crazy. We love that!
Try this one on for size:
Deslauriers fights giants too.
We’ll miss you so much, Nicolas. One of the last true enforcers in the NHL and someone who represented the lifestyle so well.
| Games played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots on goal | Shooting % | Average TOI |
| 24 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 13 | 0.0 | 8:33 |
Deslauriers’s single point this past season came on February 3, in a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals as he earned the primary assist on Carl Grundstrom’s goal to make it 2-0 in the second period. What a time to be alive.
| (5v5) Goals For % | Expected Goals For % | Corsi For % | High-Danger Attempts For % | PDO |
| 28.57 | 50.99 | 46.05 | 50.00 | 96.1 |
Yeah, who cares about his underlying metrics?
| (5v5) Points per 60 | Primary Points per 60 | Shots on goal per 60 | Shot attempts per 60 | Expected goals per 60 |
| 0.87 | 0.87 | 4.37 | 10.48 | 0.85 |
Yup. Those are certainly numbers.
Did Deslauriers live up to expectations?
We entered the season with the exact same expectation for Deslauriers that we have had since he was signed to his four-year contract: Punch some guys and don’t be a detriment on the ice. And it would be nice if he didn’t have to play a big role in the Flyers’ bottom six, but that is more about expectations for the team rather than the player.
We can confidently say that he lived up to those expectations with his 24 games. He didn’t have any historic bouts that laid a guy out and we all hollered and cheered, but Deslauriers was just a nice guy to have on your team for moral support.
What can we expect from Deslauriers next season?
Well, unfortunately for us fans of guys who punch people on the ice, he will not be a part of the Flyers. With the trade to the Hurricanes and his pending unrestricted free agency status, Deslauriers will be open to signing with whatever team needs a guy like him.
He’s so likeable that even at 35 years old and as the modern game is pivoting away from needing enforcers, it wouldn’t surprise us if he gets a one-year, league-minimum contract with some team like the Blackhawks who might just need a guy like him.
How do we grade Deslauriers’s 2025-26 season?
There is obviously a slight grading curve for Deslauriers. We’re not expecting him to be some solid middle-six contributor so his one point in 24 games was ultimately a disappointment. He did what he needed to do and then got his chance to be in the playoffs and experience a deep run. Can’t go too high but can’t go too low.
Grade: C for cool guy that we will miss
