Anthony Beauvillier happy to leave Islanders, pokes fun at Lou Lamoriello

In case you missed it yesterday, the Vancouver Canucks traded captain Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders in exchange for Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty and a 1st round pick.

The Islanders are obviously getting the better player in the deal in Horvat, who is on pace for a career season. The thing is... Horvat is NOT signed past this season and is slated to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. It remains to be seen what Isles GM Lou Lamoriello does with Horvat, but it's clear that Lamoriello and the Islanders have their sights set on a playoff spot this Spring, otherwise why would they stick their necks out so far for a rental player. The thing is, the Islanders have had so much difficulty filling the net this season and they've just acquired a guy who's on pace to score 50 goals this season. That's a win.

Interestingly enough, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports that the Islanders have had NO contract negotiations with Horvat. just yet.

Yikes... that's a LOT of risk for the Isles.

Even if they do manage to sign Horvat, how much money do they want to commit to a guy who has suddenly popped off in a contract year?

As for the Canucks, they get a very intriguing prospect in Ratu and 1st round pick either this summer or next summer, along with an NHL ready winger who can help the team immediately. Honestly... that's not a bad haul.

The real value for the Canucks will come when Ratu and the 1st round selection end up factoring into the NHL, but for now Canucks fans can at least take some solace in the fact that Beauvillier isn't chopped liver by any means. Sure, he has underperformed this season, but by all accounts so has everyone on the Islanders. It'll be interesting to see how Beauvillier fits in with his new team. One thing's clear, he seems happy to be leaving the Islanders and doing away with Lamoriello's ancient "culture rules".

Check out Beauvillier's comments (translated from French) on RDS yesterday:

"I haven't spoken with the Canucks equipment manager yet but yes, if number 72 is available I will take it back. Also, I will stop shaving every four days!"

- Anthony Beauvillier

The number comment is a nod to the fact that Lamoriello does not like his players to have "high" numbers... seriously. 

What year is it? Let the guy pick his number and let him grow his facial hair if he wants. It's absolutely ridiculous that anyone would think that having a guy choose #72 would have any effect positive or negative on "team culture". Just pure boomer nonsense from Lamoriello...