The winger played 55 games with Vancouver, scoring 11 goals and recording 28 points.
Less than a year after he was acquired as part of the Bo Horvat trade, the Vancouver Canucks moved on from winger Anthony Beauvillier, trading him to the Chicago Blackhawks for a fifth-round pick. While he had some success early on, he could never live up to expectations and spent most of this season in a bottom-six role. Here is a look back at his short Canuck career.
As mentioned, Beauvillier arrived in Vancouver as part of the Horvat trade in January. He was immediately given an opportunity in the top six, playing beside Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. He also received power play time as head coach Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff were keen to see where he would fit in the lineup. In his first 15 games, he showed that he could not only produce, recording 13 points during that time, but also that there may be some chemistry with his linemates. Unfortunately, that was not the case, as over the final 18 games, he only produced seven points and consistently saw his ice time drop below 15 minutes as the Canucks limped to the finish of the 2022-23 season.
Coming into the 2023-24 season, expectations were still high, but different. Instead of expecting him to be a top-six player who can produce consistently, the narrative changed to see if he could provide some offence in a third-line role. This did not prove to be the right fit either, as he went the first seven games without recording a point and only scored in one of his 22 games this season. With the Canucks up against the cap and Beauvillier holding a $4.15 million cap hit, the only solution was to move the winger, which gave Vancouver not just cap relief but some roster flexibility moving forward.
While Beauvillier couldn't find his offence game this season, he did perform well defensively. At even strength this season, the Canucks outscored their opponents 11-3 with him on the ice, and he was on pace to set a new career high in blocked shots as he was already up to 17. His play this year may not have been exciting, but it did at least provide Vancouver with some value over the season's first quarter.
Looking back, this was a swing and a miss for Vancouver. Based on his early deployment, they thought he could be a regular contributor, but sometimes these things don't work out. With the winger set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, the Canucks did the smart thing by moving him early while recouping a draft pick. Ultimately, it was never a fit, and both sides should benefit from the early split.