Nick Beverley was a solid positional defenceman who played over 500 NHL games in parts of eleven seasons. He was adept and getting the puck out of his zone and effective defensively without drawing many penalties.
The Toronto native played junior on the Boston Bruins' sponsored Oshawa Generals of the OHA. Since the Bruins were deep on the blueline, Beverley spent most of his first five pro seasons in the minors. Injuries and defections to the WHA left the Boston roster thinner than normal in 1972-73. Beverley played solidly in 76 games but the team was eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.
Early in the 1973-74 season, Beverley was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he was given a great deal of ice time. The Pens sent him to the New York Rangers in the off-season in return for veteran Vic Hadfield. Beverley spent a little over two years on Manhattan before he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for Bill Goldsworthy. He played his usual steady game in the Gopher State and was the team captain in 1977-78. Beverley also added stability to the defensive troops in Los Angeles and Colorado before retiring in 1980.
After hanging up his skates, Beverley became involved in hockey administration in a number of capacities. He coached the CHL's Houston Apollos the year after he retired then joined the New Haven Nighthawks as an assistant the next year. In 1982-83, he took over the head reigns at New Haven before moving up to the L.A. Kings as a scout. Beverley served as the club's director of player personnel, assistant general manager, and then GM in 1992-93 and 1993-94. He was on hand when the franchise reached the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 1993. Beverley then joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as the Director of Player Personnel where he remained until 1998-99. In 1995-96, he took over behind the Toronto bench after Pat Burns was fired and guided the club to a 9-6-2 finish before it was eliminated in the first round by the St. Louis Blues.
