With the team’s top puck-moving defenceman traded away before the season began, 2016-17 was a great opportunity for Nathan Beaulieu to show what he could do in a top-four role.
The added responsilibities from his automatic promotion to one of the team’s top blue-liners not only resulted in a career high in games played (74), but also included increased time on special teams, playing the most minutes on the power play and penaly kill in his NHL tenure.
He made the most of his man-advantage time, tying for second in power-play points among defencemen, matching Andrei Markov’s 12 in significantly less time.