Francois Beauchemin

Beauchemin is the kind of blueliner your real-life team wants – he's hard-nosed, he steps in front of shots (256 blocked in 2015-16) and seems to have an infinite amount of stamina. Playing in his first campaign with the Avalanche, the 36-year-old went on to have his most prolific season since, well, 10 years ago. The top-four defenseman scored eight times and posted 26 helpers, all while seeing 25:05 of ice time per contest. The obvious key to Beauchemin’s success: playing in all 82 games. Injuries have been an issue in the past, and with his age working against him, not too many career seasons may be left in the tank. It’s a classic case of being more useful in reality over fantasy, but the veteran should be good for his usual 20 points.

At 35 years of age, Beauchemin still profiles a key cog at the back end of any NHL squad. After surprisingly potting a career-high 11 goals with Anaheim last season, Beauchemin inked a deal with the Avalanche, with whom he'll assume a top-four role on defense. While he consistently delivers around 20 points, Beauchemin's real worth exists in his ability to handle heavy minutes, block shots, and offer heady play in his own zone, attributes the Avs desperately need after letting their goalies see far too much rubber last season. Beauchemin may land a role on the Avs’ second power-play unit, but offensive forces Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson will continue to make contributing on the offense a secondary priority for the veteran. Injury problems are becoming a concern as Beauchemin nears the end of his career, and at his age, scoring spikes such as the one he noticed in 2014-15 shouldn't portend further growth as a scorer. Instead, Beauchemin will be much more valuable from a real-life perspective than a fantasy one.

Yep, Beauchemin’s production in the lockout-shortened year was an anomaly -- he’s not a 40-point guy. He’s just another 22-26 point who’ll block 120 shots and lay the same number of hits. His plus-minus will be solid once again, so that combo will bring owners in some fantasy league a measure of value. Just don’t overrate him.

Beauchemin underwent surgery on May 16th for a torn ligament in his right knee and hopes to back in time for the start of the regular season. He logged 24 points during the 2012-2013 regular season and was tied for the most points of anyone on the team during the Ducks' brief postseason run. If healthy, he could net you a solid 35 to 40 points.

Beauchemin is a shot-blocking machine. But both he and Cam Fowler struggled miserably on their own last year and the grizzled vet turned in a minus-14 performance. Yes, some of it was pure bad luck but not all of it was. He'll be counted on heavily this year as the go-to shutdown guy, which means lots of blocked shots and hits, but not so many points.

Beauchemin scored five goals and added 12 assists over 81 games between Toronto and Anaheim last season. The track record here is consistent and it dictates that he should be reserved for only the deepest of leagues as the veteran defender has cracked the 30-point barrier only once in his NHL career.

Beauchemin is a shot-blocking, top-four defender with a howitzer of a shot and strong wheels. But his puck-handling skills leave something to be desired (and put him on his netminders' garbage list far too often). He's an asset as long as he plays a simple game and should slot onto the Leafs' second power-play unit. And that means 25 or so points and about 50 PIMs. Slot him accordingly.

Beauchemin is a strong, authoritative defender. But he’s never scored more than 36 points in any one season or delivered more than 59 PIMs. He immediately assumes the mantle of top dog in Toronto and will mentor young Luke Schenn. But don’t expect fantasy miracles from this guy. He’ll fit at the bottom of some rosters but shouldn’t be on most.

Beauchemin posted only 28 points last season (seven goals and 21 assists) in 71 games -- eight points less than what he did in the 2005-06 campaign -- when he posted 36 points (eight goals and 28 assists) in 72 games between the Ducks and Blue Jackets. The last time he got over the decade mark in goals was in 1999-00 season playing for Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL, but he could approach that mark if Scott Niedermayer decides to hang 'em up for good.

Beauchemin finished the '05-06 campaign as the Ducks' second-leading scorer on the blue line (8-28-36), but he'll be pressed to match that production with Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer eating up a lot of ice time in front of him.

Could has a solid NHL future as a defense-first defenseman, but will likely never produce enough points to be a good fantasy pick.