The Chicago Blackhawks have been through many roster changes in the past few years, but within the past week, they have gone through two major transitions. Taylor Hall is out for the season with an ACL injury, and Corey Perry’s contract was terminated due to “workplace misconduct.”
Chicago lost two big scorers, and many questioned how they would address it. General manager Kyle Davidson stated he wasn’t looking to add to the team via trade. But it turns out he had something up his sleeve as he traded a conditional 2024 fifth-round draft pick to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for forward Anthony Beauvillier four days later on Nov. 29. A few things stand out about the newest Blackhawk.
Bringing The “First-Round Pick” Factor To Blackhawks
Beauvillier has had scouts perplexed from the very beginning. They knew he had the makings of an effective NHL forward, but he was deemed undersized, and it was projected he would be a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. But, the New York Islanders thought differently. They traded a second-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 28th overall pick, which they used to select him. Many traits used to describe him over the years stand out: “skilled,” “versatile,” “leader,” “tenacious,” and “scorer.”
Beauvillier had his ups and downs during his seven-year stint with the Islanders but put up 209 points in 457 games, and he saw his highest-goal season in 2017-18, where he registered 21 goals. He was traded to the Canucks in January 2023 as part of the Bo Horvat trade package. When Canucks’ general manager Patrik Allvin acquired him, Aatu Raty, and a protected first-round pick, he described Beauvillier as “high quality” and that the trade package pieces “will be a big part of our development and growth moving forward.” Those words sound familiar, Blackhawks fans? The organization always preaches growth and development for its rebuild. He already fits the mold.
Offense was a knack of Beauvillier’s last season as he had an identical 9 goals, 11 assists, and 20-point stat line split between New York and Vancouver (40 points total). It was the closest number to the 39 points he got back in 2019-20. This season, he has 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, and is a plus-8 in 22 games with the Canucks.
Related: Canucks Acquire Beauvillier & Raty From Islanders For Horvat
Everything needed to know about Beauvillier comes down to the fact that he is versatile. He has experience playing up and down lineups, although he has mainly been used in a bottom-six role. He knows how to play with high-end forwards like Mathew Barzal from his time with the Islanders and also Elias Pettersson in Vancouver. He can play on the power play (his two goals this season have been power-play goals), on the penalty kill, on the left or right side (he mainly plays left wing), and is defensively sound; he is an overall two-way player. The biggest flaw repeated about Beauvillier’s game is that he has been inconsistent throughout his career and tends to be frustratingly streaky with production.
Beauvillier’s Blackhawks Impact
When the Blackhawks acquired Beauvillier, my first thought was that he is precisely the type of player the Blackhawks like to take chances on: players with potential, yet inconsistent.
Since Davidson took over in 2022, he traded for players like Sam Lafferty (from the Pittsburgh Penguins) and Joey Anderson (from the Toronto Maple Leafs); both were bounced around from the AHL (American Hockey League) and NHL and didn’t quite put it together. Then, Lafferty became a reliable staple in the lineup before getting traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in February, in which, ironically, Anderson was part of the return. Anderson had a great showing in the bottom six last season, and since being recalled from the Rockford IceHogs on Nov. 23 due to Hall and Perry’s absences, he has been one of their most effective forwards with three points in three games.
Moreover, look at Philipp Kurashev. He has been pegged as one of the Blackhawks’ most talented yet inconsistent players for the past four years, but they gave him a two-year contract extension in July because they believed in him, and now he is having the best start to his career (12 points in 14 games).
Maybe Beauvillier can follow the same path as Lafferty, Anderson, and Kurashev and reestablish his NHL identity. Beauvillier recently had this to say about his game:
I think I’m playing well right now, they’re just not coming easy. At the end of the day, I’m going home feeling good about my game. That’s the most important thing. Call it luck, call it got to pick my corners a little better. I think I’m skating well and trying to play hard and be hard to play against. It will come. I feel confident about my game.”
He will come to the Blackhawks feeling confident and hungry to make a statement. With the outside noise of being on the trade block behind him and being in a situation where every player has to “prove it” should provide the perfect setting for him to find the production he has been looking for.
Funny enough, two of the players he played the most with in Vancouver were Lafferty and Nils Höglander. With the Islanders, it was Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson. Bailey was traded to the Blackhawks in June, but they bought him out. (Lots of Hawks connections there!) Beauvillier seems to play well with high-motor players, similar to how he plays. So, on the Hawks, he would probably pair well with Ryan Donato on the fourth line or even with Jason Dickinson, MacKenzie Entwistle, and Anderson on the third line, depending on whether the Blackhawks keep Anderson in Chicago. The Hawks have a lot of energetic role players, but Beauvillier could complement them even more with his skill and scoring ability. He could also be a top-six option for Connor Bedard and Lukas Reichel if they decide to move Nick Foligno back to a bottom-six role. The possibilities are endless.
Blackhawks Need Beauvillier In Their Lineup
There is no downside to acquiring Beauvillier. The Blackhawks only parted with a fifth-round pick, and if it doesn’t work out and he doesn’t fit for whatever reason, his $12.45 million contract ($4.15 million AAV) expires at the end of the season, so no harm, no foul. But it’s worth a try. Head coach Luke Richardson is familiar with him, too, as he was an assistant coach with the Islanders, and stated, “He’s definitely a little spitfire out there. He can skate, he can shoot, he brings energy. Hopefully, he brings some consistency and maybe some extra scoring, which we could use right now.”
Related: 5 Ways the Blackhawks Can Get the Most Out of Beauvillier
Case closed. The Blackhawks need him. Their depth has taken a huge hit, and they just needed somebody, anybody, who could help, and this is a start. Davidson initially said it would be hard to trade for someone this early in the season, but Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the trade, “It’s business, right? We need the cap space. He’s a guy who was tradable.” So, it’s a win-win for both sides. The fact that he was available might end up being a silver lining to their tough start to the season.
Beauvillier can assist the team with their dreadful power play, which has gone 7-for-65, can boost their 12th-worst penalty kill, and elevate the second-worst NHL squad with proven talent. You can’t go wrong with adding speedy playmakers to a lineup.
Obviously, the 26-year-old has had his struggles and has to prove himself. There is a chance it could backfire, but if you’re the Blackhawks, what do you have to lose? Both team and player can benefit from each other right now, and if it does work, well then add it to the list of recent success stories for player turnarounds in Chicago.
