New York Islanders: Expect Turnaround Year from Anthony Beauvillier

The New York Islanders re-signed restricted free agent, Anthony Beauvillier to a two-year contract nailing down the last remaining hold out from last year’s surprise playoff team. But after an underwhelming offensive season, what can the Isle faithful expect from Tito this year?

After a very promising second half offensively in 2017-18, the New York Islanders expected good things out of Anthony Beauvillier this year.

At first, they started him on the second line with Barzal and Bailey, and later with Nelson. But it never panned out for him as he dropped to the third line playing with Filppula and Komarov, at times getting outplayed by even Michael Dal Colle.

That said, Beauvillier showed moments of brilliance, as one would expect from a player with his speed and agility.

Scoring on his own rebound

in the return to the Coliseum and a

nice snipe against the Coyotes

later in December. But these moments were few and far between in 18-19.

The New York Islanders Expect More

It goes without saying that the Islanders expect more out of Beau in the 19-20 campaign. This might be completely doable for the young winger, however, as he was only 21 years old under a new defense-first program. Nearly all of the Islanders key players other than Cizikas had minor setbacks offensively under Coach Trotz. Surely the youngest players would be most affected?

Footage of Beauvillier in his summer league seems promising. A league where new Islanders center Derick Brassard got his first taste of what it’s like to be an Islander these days thanks to Beauvillier.

"“The first thing [Beau] told me was how dialed in the team was to play together, play on the same page and play as a team,” Brassard said. “For me that fits really well. I played for three teams last year, so it was hard to get going. That’s what I was looking for this summer.”"

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My expectation is that Beau has a turnaround year. He’s had a year to familiarize himself with the system, he’s coming off a down year and has something to prove, and he wants to make it back to the second line. Look for Tito to come out firing and if he does, that will surely be a good thing for the Orange and Blue.