Islanders RFA forward being targeted by Montreal Canadiens

As the Montreal Canadiens look to build off of a successful post-season run that saw them return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1993, GM Marc Bergevin is sifting through the forward market and has targetted one of the New York Islanders RFAs; Anthony Beauvillier.

According to the Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, the Canadiens have inquired about acquiring the Islanders Quebec native. They can have him if they want, but the price to acquire him won’t be cheap.

Montreal Canadiens have interest in New York Islanders Anthony Beauvillier

Anthony Beauvillier might be wildly inconsistent, but he’s easily a top-six player. His speed and shot make him a dangerous player for any team. Since 2016-17 Beauvillier is fifth in scoring on the Isles with 72 goals. Four behind Jordan Eberle and Mathew Barzal who are tied for third.

Change that to the playoffs and Beau is second in scoring (five back of Nelson for the team lead).

There’s no question why the Montreal Canadiens have targetted him. Beau is a french-speaking Quebec native (his town of Sorel-Tracy is an hour drive from downtown Montreal), who has established himself as a good top-six player in the NHL.

Like I said, they can have him. That’s not to suggest I want Montreal to have him, or I want the Islanders to trade him. But if the Islanders can extract a good return out of moving Beau then why not?

Any return from Montreal certainly starts with Suzuki or Caufield but I can’t see Bergevin agreeing to move either of them, especially for Beauvillier. But maybe he could be swayed to give up Alexander Romanov.

The Russian defenseman is a smooth-skating offensive-minded defenseman who can play in the top four. The operative word here is can. Romanov is only 21 and just played his first NHL season where he averaged 17:15 of ice-time. And his transition numbers aren’t great when compared to Leddy who he’d effectively be replacing.

He’s young so that’s an issue for a Barry Trotz team. Will they really play a full season of Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov? I have my doubts. But if the Montreal are exploring a Beauvillier trade with the Isles if I were Lou I’d try to extract Romanov.