Islanders: What to do with Anthony Beauvillier in final year of deal

Anthony Beauvillier is in the final year of his contract, should the New York Islanders work to get him re-signed before the 2020-21 offseason?

New York Islanders forward Anthony Beauvillier is entering the final year of a two-year bridge deal that carries a $2.1 million cap hit. The focus for Lou Lamoriello right now is on his current crop of RFAs (Ryan Pulock and Mathew Barzal) but once that’s done he’ll have to start thinking about the next wave of RFAs.

That group consists of Adam Pelech, Ilya Sorokin, Michael Dal Colle, and Anthony Beauvillier.

Focusing specifically on Anthony Beauvillier, should Lou get him locked up now or does he see what happens in 20-21 and extend him after that?

Cost Control

Immediately the “if you have time take it” mantra comes to mind. Lou is never in a rush to do anything so the idea that he jumps to re-sign Anthony Beauvillier isn’t necessarily in his character. But with the loss of income around the NHL due to the COVID-19 pandemic and considering where the Islanders are with the cap, cost control is going to be something at the top of Lou (and the owners) minds going forward.

Re-signing Beauvillier as soon as possible might not be such a crazy idea.

So what is he worth?

We know he’s at least worth more than his $2.1 million cap hit. With 39 points this season, Beau had already established a career-high even if he wasn’t able to play a full season. Had the 2019-20 season gone the full 82 games, Beauvillier could have surpassed the 40 point plateau with a pace of 47 points. That would have crushed his previous career-high of 36 points.

At 23 years of age, Beau hasn’t yet hit his ceiling either. He can, and likely will get better over the next two years as he rounds out into his peak form. Beau is already in line for an upgrade on his current deal, if he continues that upwards trajectory he started this season his cost is just going to rise even more.

At the moment a 23-year-old 40+ point winger is worth around $3.5 million a year. I’m basing that off the fact that Tyler Bertuzzi, a 25-year-old winger who has put up back-to-back 40+ point seasons was awarded a $3.5 million contract by an arbitrator. If that’s what Bertuzzi costs, Beau would certainly cost less. Right now that is. If Beauvillier puts up a similar (or better) season in 20-21 he could be worth more.

If Lou can lock in Beauvillier at $3 million for the next few years he should. That may only be a half-million in savings over a single year, but in a flat cap world, every dollar counts.

Of course, Lou can’t just make Beauvillier sign whatever contract he wants him to. Beau has to sign on the dotted line for this to work. Beau could bet on himself and push contract negotiations until the end of 20-21.

But with (1) a flat cap for the next two seasons, (2) the Islanders already basically at the cap ceiling, and (3) a better player only got $3.5 million from a third-party arbitrator, Beau might think a $3 million deal for three-years might just work for him.