According to a study conducted by Sportshandle, the Philadelphia Flyers were the best fighting team in the NHL, thanks in large part to Nicolas Deslauriers’ 100% win rate in his 11 fights this season.
Deslauriers, 33, is the de facto heavyweight champion of the NHL, and his title isn’t particularly contested at the moment. The Flyers slugger was a perfect 11-for-11 in his fights in the 2023-24 season, making him one of three players in the league with a 100% win rate across at least five fights. The other two players are New Jersey Devils goon Kurtis MacDermid and Washington Capitals grinder Tom Wilson.
Aside from those three, no other NHL player managed to crack a 90% win rate. And because the criteria included at least five fights, Flyers tough guys Garnet Hathaway and Nick Seeler were left off the list of 39 fighters.
Sportshandle did award Deslauriers with their own imaginary award for his troubles, too.
“With the 2023/24 NHL season in the books, we can proudly announce Nicolas Deslauriers as the first-ever winner of the Bob Probert Trophy,” said Sportshandle. “A trophy awarded to the player who has shown the most remarkable efforts and skills, when resorting to fisticuffs to settle on-ice disputes in the National Hockey League.”
Notably, the Devils recently added defenseman Brenden Dillon in free agency, and the veteran defenseman was 4-for-7 in his fights this year, placing him 20th and tying him with Montreal forward Michael Pezzetta at 57%.
Additionally, Matt Rempe–the NHL’s most popular goon–clocked in at the very bottom of the list. He and Rangers teammate Will Cuylle both went 1-for-5 in their tilts this season, sporting a paltry 20% win percentage. That’ll leave a mark.
Because of Deslauriers’ smashing successes with the gloves off, the Flyers were, by extension, the NHL’s best fighters as a team in 2023-24. Sportshandle credits the Orange and Black with 22 wins in 23 fights, which gives them an astounding 96% win percentage. The next closest team was the Dallas Stars, who fought only eight times the entire season and won seven of those fights, earning them a mark of 88%.
The Ottawa Senators were the NHL’s softest team, winning only 21% of their 24 fights. Also appearing in the bottom half of the NHL were some of the Flyers’ Metropolitan Division rivals; the New York Islanders (46%), Pittsburgh Penguins (44%), and Devils (42%) were on the receiving end of a beatdown more often than not.
