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New York Islanders Top 25 Under 25: Size not stopping Anthony Beauvillier at #7

Beauvillier has done what you want to see: Improve his stock in the year since his drafting.

By Dominik
Tenacious B.
Tenacious B.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The difference in ceiling for Anthony Beauvillier and Joshua Ho-Sang is almost as different as the odds we'd place on which of them has a long NHL career.

Ho-Sang has the flashy top-line skills and the ambition to be a star, but we wonder if there is an NHL role for him if those don't translate into top-six NHL minutes. Beauvillier is the more physically tenacious, two-way player with good defensive awareness and offensive production (albeit in a junior league where numbers are viewed a little more skeptically).

Essentially, neither has a large frame by NHL standards, but Beauvillier's game profiles to potentially fit in a wider spectrum of roles than Ho-Sang's. The former looks increasingly likely to have an NHL career come hell or high water.

As always, there are caveats when we're discussing late first-round picks just one year (Beauvillier) or two (Ho-Sang) after their draft day. But if you're someone enamored with Ho-Sang's skills, the above factors help explain why almost everyone of us had Beauvillier higher in our Spring 2016 Top 25 Islanders Under 25 ranking.

How We Voted (and Some Why)

King (CIL) Keith Mike B. McNally Garik Dominik Leboff Les
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David King (CanadianIslesLifer):

Beauvillier reminds me of a young Dougie Gilmour. He's small by NHL standards, but fast and tenacious. BVR is not intimidated by physical play. In fact, I think he excels when the game heats up. A good two-way player, who can score goals (though Q-Alert applies) as well as set up plays. He's also solid in the faceoff circle.

If his game pans out at the NHL level, he will be a top 6 forward. If not, he has the skill set to at least be refurbished into a bottom 6 defensive forward, who drives the puck in the right direction and can take faceoffs.

Keith:

Why can't our fiesty guys be 220 lbs? I like his game a lot with the grit and all. Was a great faceoff guy in jr. this year also. Can the Q translate?

Mike B.:

Rugged for his size, which is a good thing for the Islanders; his stature gave them the shot to draft him. A top-six potential who could move to wing, and who could also play both PP and PK.

McNally:

Beauvillier scored 42 goals and had 94 points in the offense happy QMJHL going into his draft year. Last season he managed to top those gaudy numbers per game, scoring only 2 less goals in 20 fewer games.

He also has a serious set of wheels on him and is good in the faceoff circle. I wonder though if his size will push him to the wing at the pro level.

Les (HockeyGoalieEh):

79 points in 49 games is an incredible pace. He also led his team in points  in the playoffs. The only concern about him is size which isn't as much of a problem in today's NHL, but this coaching staff using him correctly should he make it seems incredibly unlikely.

Previously in the Top 25 Under 25

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