POLL: Ducks Sign Beauchemin; Is A Trade Looming?
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks signed Francois Beauchemin to a $1 million contract, which includes about $500,000 in performance bonuses per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
This will be Beauchemin’s third tour of duty with Anaheim. He first played for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim back in the 2005-06 season. He was part of the Stanley Cup team in 2007 and played with Anaheim through the 2008-09 season. In 2009, the Toronto Maple Leafs signed him, but he was then dealt back to the Ducks during the 2010-11 season in exchange for defenseman Jake Gardiner and winger Joffrey Lupul. Beauchemin has played in 836 NHL games, recording 73 goals and 198 assists for a total of 271 points.
Is A Trade Looming?
There had been previous reports that the Ducks might trade Sami Vatanen, but those reports died down once the Ducks lost Clayton Stoner and Shea Theodore in the NHL Expansion draft. The question now is with the Ducks signing Beauchemin does this mean the Ducks could trade Vatanen or another defenseman as a result.
The Ducks current blueline consists of Kevin Bieksa, Cam Fowler, Korbinian Holzer, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson, Brandon Montour, Sami Vatanen, and now Francios Beauchemin. Anaheim also has Steven Oleksy, who was signed this offseason. In addition, Jaycob Megna and Jacob Larsson are waiting for their chances at a full-time assignment in Anaheim.
If the Ducks want to trade a defenseman for a forward, then a possibility could be David Pastrnak. The Boston Bruins forward has been reported to having contract issues with Bruins. Pastrnak is a restricted free agent after completing his 3-year entry level contract worth $2.7 million. He is looking for a big deal considering last season he recorded 70 total points(34 G + 36A) in 75 games with Boston.
Some other players that could be trade targets for Anaheim are Sam Bennett and Matt Duchene. Bennett is also a restricted free agent(RFA) like Pastrnak and is looking for a new deal in Calgary. Duchene has been the center of several trade rumors and Anaheim has been included as a possible trade partner. The Ducks do have just over $3 million in cap space per Cap Friendly, so a trade would likely have to involve a player with a decent sized contract in order sign a quality forward.
Another possibility is the Beauchemin signing is just an insurance policy since Lindholm and Vatanen both had shoulder surgery and are unlikely to start the season. Signing Beauchemin would give Anaheim more time to not rush either Lindholm or Vatanen back too soon if they aren’t ready to play come the beginning of October. Lastly, Beauchemin may have been signed as both an early season insurance policy and also for a future trade during the season.
What do you think about the Ducks signing Beauchemin?
For all the Ducks summer transactions, visit our Ducks Transactions Tracker.
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August 21st, 2017
Filed under: Ducks News Tagged: Anaheim Ducks, ducksnpucks, francios beauchemin