"I'm excited, that's for sure," Deslauriers said Sunday. "I was already packed, so I knew it was just a matter of time and where and now I'm excited. This place is a fun hockey building too. Every time we played here it was fun. Makes it easy for me to come. I know almost half the team already and it's a veteran kind of group. I think I hope I fit in well, and we'll get to work."
The 31-year-old forward scored 10 points (five goals, five assists) and had 90 penalty minutes in 61 games for the Ducks this season. He can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
"Seems to fit the Minnesota Wild. Plays a hard game. Plays gritty. He's got a skill set, too, that can score," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "Is going to provide us with size (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) and bite and play up and down our lineup. We're excited. Certainly a guy that we've identified for a bit now that's a pain in the butt to play against. He'll now be a Minnesota Wild pain in the butt."
Selected in the third round (No. 84) of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings, Deslauriers has scored 82 points (41 goals, 41 assists) and has 498 penalty minutes in 486 games with the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Ducks.
"I know my role well," Deslauriers said. "I think it took me maybe a while to adjust to it, to kind of know when to fight, know when to not to, what brings energy. I have to give credit to Anaheim, they gave me a second boost in my career. Montreal was not going the way I wanted my last year there, and I went (to Anaheim) and just proved myself that I can play and I can also do the heavy lifting."
General manager Bill Guerin said he likes what Deslauriers brings to the Wild.
"I think our depth has been good, but I think this makes it a little bit better," Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin said. "I think Nic brings a certain abrasiveness to his game that we all like, and we agreed that he's a guy that would make us better. We saw him a lot last year, and we've been following him a lot this year. He brings a physical nature to the game, leadership, sticks up for his teammates, he kills penalties. He's definitely a good add.
"He's an everyday player."
RELATED: [NHL Trade Tracker]
The Ducks also traded defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Kodie Curran to the Boston Bruins on Saturday for defensemen John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2023 draft and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
The moves come less than a week after Anaheim traded defenseman Josh Manson to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman prospect Drew Helleson and a second-round pick in the 2023 draft on March 14.
NHL.com independent correspondent Jessi Pierce contributed to this report
