New York Islanders 2017 Prospect Report: Anthony Beauvillier

New York Islanders prospect and former 2015 first round selection Anthony Beauvillier spent his first season with the big club and there were some positive signs.

Welcome back to our “Where they at?” segment, this week we will be looking at Anthony Beauvillier. It was a tale of two seasons for the rookie, actually, it wasn’t much different from the New York Islanders season as an entirety. He, like the Islanders, started slow but began to come on strong under Doug Weight.

You see, under Jack Capuano Beau couldn’t find himself in the lineup on a consistent basis. It was very difficult for him to develop his game when he wasn’t getting a fair shot every night.

That’s why Beau struggled early on and gave the Isles very little offensively. Realistically, it was Doug Weight who helped save Beau’s season.

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What I liked about Weight this year was he gave the youth a chance. He let them get the ice time and they were learning from their mistakes on the fly rather than being punished with a healthy scratch the following night.

Not only did the addition of Doug Weight help Beau, but the call-up of Josh Ho-Sang helped him out as well. The two rookies worked well together and towards the end of the year looked like the best Islanders line.

Here’s a preview of what they can do together:

It’s very appealing and I want to see more of that in 2017-2018. A potential second line with Beauvillier-Barzal-Ho-Sang has my mouth salivating.

The final tally on the season for Beau was nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points. Not a bad year by any means, especially when you consider that he played in just 66 games during the year. Imagine what he can do in a full season.

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I’m not sure if Beauvillier will ever be a huge point producer in the NHL, although he plays solid in both the offensive and defensive zones. Sometimes you need guys who can do a bit of everything and Beau seems to have the hockey IQ to be one of those guys.

I doubt we will see 50+ points from him anytime soon but it’s not unrealistic to expect 30-35 points from him next year over a full season.

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Look for Beau to get regular minutes in 2017-2018 and don’t be surprised if he thrives given the opportunity.