It’s no secret that Francois Beauchemin presents an issue for the Colorado Avalanche organization. The 36-year-old has experienced a decline in leadership and defensive play this season, but the main issue surrounding Beauchemin is the no-movement clause that he carries.
A Solution for Francois Beauchemin‘s No-Movement Clause
As the expansion draft rules state, any player with a no-movement clause must be protected. If the Avs opted to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie then Beauchemin would eat up one of three valuable defensive spots. The other two presumably going to Erik Johnson (NMC) and Tyson Barrie. That leaves young defenseman Nikita Zadorov exposed, and he would be a desirable player for the Vegas Golden Knights. If the Avs went the route of protecting eight skaters and one goalie in order to protect Zadorov, they would protect Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and then choose one more player to protect between Carl Soderberg, Mikhail Grigorenko, Matt Nieto, and Joe Colborne. Joe Sakic would be hard-pressed to find a team willing to take on Beauchemin’s no-movement clause, but that’s where the Carolina Hurricanes come into play.
Carolina Hurricanes
Like the Avalanche, the Hurricanes are in a rebuild. Both teams would be careful when manoeuvring around this theoretical deal. Carolina will most likely protect seven forwards and three defensemen due to the fact that they simply don’t have enough quality defensemen to warrant protecting more than three. Other than stud defenseman Justin Faulk, and exempt rookies like Noah Hanifin, the rest of the Canes defensive group looks pretty bleak as of right now. Prospects like Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury provide a light at the end of the tunnel. Taking on a contract like Beauchemin’s wouldn’t be a big issue for Carolina, and the Canes have boatloads of cap space. But they would want Sakic to sweeten the pot and add something else in return.
The Deal
In this theoretical deal, Colorado could send Beauchemin and a high draft choice to Carolina for a low draft pick. Colorado would therefore be able to protect seven forwards and three defensemen without exposing Zadorov. They would have more open forward slots to protect players. As Peter Dewar and Brian LeBlanc of Canes Country blog pointed out, Carolina would in turn need to re-sign Klas Dahlbeck or Ron Hainsey in order to meet the 40/70 standards. Carolina would then protect Beauchemin, Faulk, and one other player. The Avalanche would get rid of a troublesome contract and the Hurricanes would take that on that contract without much of a hassle, while also getting a veteran defenseman..
The Expansion Draft
After the completion of this deal, the Avalanche front office would most likely protect the following players from the upcoming expansion draft:
Forwards (7)
Nathan MacKinnon
Matt Duchene
Gabriel Landeskog
Carl Soderberg
Mikhail Grigorenko
Matt Nieto
Joe Colborne
Defense (3)
Tyson Barrie
Erik Johnson
Nikita Zadorov
Goalie (1)
Calvin Pickard or Semyon Varlamov
Main Photo.
