New York Islanders Anthony Beauvillier and Agent Talk Contract

New York Islanders RFA Anthony Beauvillier and his agent Phillipe Lecavalier talked to LNH.com about the possibility of a short-term deal with Isles. Hopefully, a short-term deal can motivate Beau to perform.

Its been radio silence for the New York Islanders since the opening day of free agency. After signing goalie Semyon Varlamov and Anders Lee, the Islanders have done very little. That includes re-signing their RFAs.

Qualifying offers were given to Josh Ho-Sang, Michael Dal Colle and Anthony Beauvillier. But none have been re-signed just yet. The question isn’t if they’ll get re-signed, but for how much, and for how long?

LNH.com’s Guillaume Lepage* caught up with Anthony Beauvillier at his second Spikeball for Alzheimer’s tournament to ask him about his next deal with the Islanders.

(*The entire article is in French. I added translations that I took from Google Translate.)

Not The Best Time

Speaking to Lepage, Beau says that negotiations with the Islanders have yet to begin but that he isn’t nervous. According to Beau, baring a major change, he won’t be going anywhere.

"Je ne suis pas nerveux à propos de ça. Je sais que je vais rester avec les Islanders à moins d’un changement majeur. [English] I’m not nervous about that. I know I will stay with the Islanders unless there is a major change."

Beauvillier’s agent Philippe Lecavalier doesn’t sound nervous either. Lecavalier is pretty confident that Beau will get a two to three-year deal from the Islanders when this is all said and done.

"Ça dépend toujours des chiffres liés à un contrat à long terme, mais si on est en mesure de le faire, pourquoi pas? Un contrat d’un an est aussi possible, mais ça va probablement tourner autour de deux ou trois ans. [English] It still depends on the numbers of a long-term contract, but if you can do it, why not? A one-year contract is also possible, but it will probably be around two or three years."

Looking at the deals Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews got after their ELC’s were done it’s easy to see why Lecavalier is so confident. Both received two-year deals worth $4 million and $1.4 million, respectively. There’s no reason to think Beau won’t get the same two-year type deal.

And that should be perfect to get the best out of Beauvillier.

Prove It

We all remember how Anthony Beauvillier started scoring at will when he returned from a stint in the AHL two seasons ago. From January 2018 to the end of the 2017-18 season, Beauvillier was on a near 60 point pace.

That pace didn’t keep up in 2018-19. With 18 goals and ten assists, his 28 points is an eight-point drop from last season’s 36 point career-high. Maybe

Beauvillier looks like a clear 20 goal scorer in the NHL. Over the last two seasons, Beauvillier has scored 39 goals. But at this point in his career we, and more importantly, the New York Islanders aren’t sure what they’re getting from Beauvillier.

A two or even one-year deal would effectively ask Beau to prove that he’s better than he’s shown. It’s the type of motivation that Beauvillier needs to thrive. Again, it took a trip to the AHL last season to get him to snap out of it. After 16 games with a single point last season, a demotion to the third line also snapped him out of his funk, temporarily anyways.

Want your voice heard? Join the Eyes On Isles team!

Write for us!

Beauvillier seems to need the motivation to get the best out of him. Working for his next contract is perhaps the best motivator a player could ask for. Hopefully, after signing his next deal with the New York Islanders we can catch a glimpse of the best version of Anthony Beauvillier.