Jonathan Parker and two draft picks. He had been originally sent down to the Rochester Americans but injuries to the Sabres lineup earned him a quick recall. He subsequently made his NHL debut a few days later on March 7, 2014, in a 2–0 loss to the Florida Panthers. In his second career NHL game, Deslauriers played 12:13 minutes of ice time and threw three hits. His play was praised by interim coach Ted Nolan who said: "You look at Deslauriers, for a young kid too, his second game in the National Hockey League, he competed out there. You can never go wrong when you have guys that love to compete." He scored his first career NHL goal on April 4 with 6:40 remaining in the third period in a 3–2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Deslauriers finished the season by scoring one goal through 17 of the Sabres' last 20 games. As such, he was re-signed to a two-year contract with the team on May 26, 2014. Deslauriers remained in Buffalo during the 2014 offseason where he lost nearly 20 pounds. During the pre-season, he skated alongside Sam Reinhart and was worked into a checking role with Cody McCormick and Patrick Kaleta. Having formally played as a defenseman, the 2014–15 season became Deslauriers' first as a winger. When speaking on the change, he said he felt better playing on the wing but would change positions if needed. He finished the season playing in all 82 games and tallying 15 points and 71 penalty minutes. He also finished ninth in the league with 261 hits. As a result of his play, Deslauriers was voted the teams' Rookie of the Year. On January 4, 2016, head coach Dan Bylsma announced that Deslauriers would miss three to six weeks while recovering from a lower body injury. At the time of the injury, Deslauriers had tallied three goals and seven points through 38 games. After spending nearly a month recovering, Deslauriers returned to the Sabres lineup on February 3. Upon returning, Deslauriers was placed on team's third line alongside Cal O'Reilly and Zemgus Girgensons. Although he finished the season healthy, Deslauriers sustained a knee injury on October 30 that caused him to miss 19 games. He was limited to only 42 games during the 2016–17 season and averaged a career-low 7:25 time on ice while recording no goals and two assists. During