The Wild acquired Deslauriers, 31, from the Anaheim Ducks for a third-round pick last season, and he’s added some toughness and physicality to the bottom of their lineup. He looked like a decent fit in Minnesota, but with the pressure of the acquisitions of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter severely squeezing Guerin’s financial flexibility this summer, it appears they don’t have the cap space necessary to keep him. Guerin said he expects Deslauriers to garner “a lot of interest,” which likely means Deslauriers has honored himself since his return to hockey status. Bjugstad is coming off a year where he was a depth forward for the Wild and hasn’t scored in double figures or scored more than 20 points since an impressive 49-point 2018-19 campaign with the Florida Panthers. It’s unlikely Bjugstad will see the same level of league-wide interest as Deslauriers when he hits the market. Now, for some other notes on the information released after the draft:
The New Jersey Devils weren’t deterred when they saw longtime consensus number one prospect Shane Wright surprisingly on the board after the Montreal Canadiens took Juraj Slafkovsky first overall. They stuck to their board and selected Simon Nemec, an extremely talented defenseman and countryman of Slafkovsky. The Devils made a bold choice and will waste no time putting Nemec in the fold of their organization. As relayed by NHL.com’s Amanda Stein , Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald says he has spoken with Nemec’s agent and “expects to sign” Nemec to his entry-level contract this week. Stein notes that Nemec expressed his desire to play in the AHL at the NHL Combine in Buffalo, and Nemec joining the Utica Comets for 2022-23 is starting to look like the most likely outcome. Earlier in July, we covered the San Jose Sharks’ situation with defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and whether he would be bought out by the team after 16 seasons in blue-collar. Today, Vlasic told The Athletic’s Corey Masisiak that it “doesn’t look like” he’ll be bought out and that he’s “excited” for a fresh start under a new coaching staff and a new GM in Mike Grier, who he played with. for three seasons. Vlasic’s final years were not up to the standards he established earlier in his career. If the Sharks have any hopes of returning to contention next season, as the organization fully intends to do, Vlasic will need to play like the $7MM defenseman he once was.
