Breaking down the Anthony Beauvillier trade ft. Frank Seravalli: Canucks Conversation
7 months ago
On Wednesday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal delve into the Vancouver Canucks’ most recent trade involving Anthony Beauvillier, as the club sent the forward to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a 5th-round pick. Beauvillier, 26, was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the NHL season and had a $4.15 million cap hit.
“I think we can all agree it’s an opportunistic win for the Canucks to get his cap hit off the books,” Harm said. “It would have been ideal if they’d found a way to shed it in the summer when the cap space would have been more valuable, but if they had cap space to clear in the summer, I’m sure they would’ve done it.”
With Chicago forwards Corey Perry’s contract recently terminated and Taylor Hall injured for the remainder of the season, the Blackhawks found themselves with a shortage of top-9 NHL wingers. Beauvillier fills a hole in Chicago’s offence while Vancouver clears some needed cap space.
Quads then gave his take on the narratives surrounding the trade: “People have this idea that this was an utter failure because they traded for Beauvillier as part of the Horvat deal and they’re saying, ‘he was the main piece in the Horvat deal and they just gave him away for a 5th-round pick.’ The 1st-round pick was the main piece of that Horvat deal. Aatu Raty was ahead of Beauvillier in that deal. I’ve always viewed acquiring Beauvillier as the Islanders countering and saying, ‘If you want a 1st-round pick and a top prospect, it’s going to cost you in terms of taking back some salary.’ When I see him flipped for a 5th-round pick, I don’t lose sleep over it.”
The guys moved on to recap the Canucks’ 3-1 victory from Tuesday night, with Quads giving his thoughts on forward Nils Aman’s performance.
“There’s a north-south player that Tocchet is really going to like,” Quads said. “I was really impressed with him last night, and I think the organization as a whole has been as well, which is why he just got a 2-year deal.” He noted Aman will provide valuable bottom-6 minutes for a good price, and after the trade, it appears the Canucks are more comfortable with him over Beauvillier in that role.
The guys are then joined by Hockey Insider Frank Seravalli to talk about the Canucks and other news around the league.
Frank gave his thoughts on the Beauvillier trade: “For the first time in the Patrick Alvin-Jum Rutherford era, the Canucks have some salary cap, and that’s a big deal. To get off Beauvillier’s contract, not have to pay and even get a little something in return; that’s something for Vancouver to be excited about.”
Harm: “Outside of Vancouver, how do you think the league as a whole views the Canucks’ hot start?”
“I think there’s a lot of believers in the core pieces,” Frank replied. “They’ve been skeptical in terms of the results and underlying numbers… but some opinions and takes from execs around the league are that the Canucks are a team that can do damage and go on a deep run.”
Frank went on to give his thoughts on the Corey Perry situation out of Chicago: “From a precedent perspective, the NHLPA hasn’t decided whether they want to grieve this. We haven’t seen a situation where a team has terminated a contract that hasn’t necessarily done something illegal… Until we learn some more of the details, it’s hard to offer more commentary on the validity of it all.”
You can watch the full segment in the video below.
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