Report Card - Francois Beauchemin

Name/Position – Francois Beauchemin/D
Height/Weight – 6'/215 lbs
09/10 Games Played – 82 Goals - 5 Assists - 21 Points – 26 Plus/Minus – minus 13
08/09 Games Played – 20 Goals - 4 Assists - 1 Points – 5 Plus/Minus – minus 3
Salary/Cap Hit - $4.2 Million/$3.8 Million



Analysis - Francois Beauchemin is one of the toughest players for me to analyze.


I find Francois to be very frustrating. He makes several offensive pinches a game, that lead to odd man rushes (the evidence is in his minus 13!). He often leaves his check alone, giving them good offensive chances. He plays physically, but never lays out those game changing hits.


However, we can see a much different story by looking at a few other stats.


Beauchemin averaged the most time on ice by all Leafs defencemen, playing over 25 minutes a game.


Beauchemin was given the 'A' early in the season, showing his leadership qualities. He was invited to the Olympic camp last summer for Team Canada, and was named to Canada's World Championship team this spring.

We do get a much better player for the cost of Jeff Finger!


Francois really reminds me of Ian White. Both players were on the smaller side, but had a low centre of gravity and battled for the buck. Both could chip in offensively, and both likely had too much ice time.


As the Leafs improve their play this upcoming season, it will be interesting to see how Beauchemin plays. With better defensive coverage from the team, his pinches may benefit our offensive break aways. And with an improved d-core, he may not have to play so many minutes.


Beauchemin translates to "good road", so lets hope he will lead us down it.


Grade - B (We will see what next year brings)