Boston Bruins: What’s the best we can expect from John Beecher?

With the 30th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the Boston Bruins selected John Beecher.

There was a plethora of talent available at the Boston Bruins selection, including the likes of Raphael Lavoie, Arthur Kaliyev and Nils Hoglander. However, they decided to go off the board a bit and select John Beecher. Was this a good selection?

The Basics

Beecher, born on April 5th, 2001 in Elmira, New York, played all of last season with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP). Playing in 63 games, Beecher recorded 15 goals and 28 assists for 43 points.

He was also invited to play on the US under-18 team in the World Junior Championships. There, he was able to record 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 points in 7 games. Keep in mind, he played on a stacked US team, with sheltered minutes, thus limiting what he truly could have done. That includes the USNTDP and the under-18 team.

Scouting Report

Using ProspectShifts, I was able to watch film on Beecher and put together a quick scouting report. Here is what I found.

John Beecher is a fast skater. He has good acceleration, as he doesn’t need to take a lot of strides in order to hit his full speed. He possesses good edge work, enabling him to make tight turns. Beecher is also hard to knock off the puck and knockdown, as he has great balance. He fights through sticks and bodies by using his big frame (6’3, 210 pounds) and his high-end puck control.

Unfortunately, in the one game available to watch on prospectshifts, Beecher did not take a single shot. He also didn’t make many offensive plays in general, and therefore, I do not have a fair assessment on his offensive game. With that said, I will take a quick trip to LastWordOnHockey and show you their assessment on Beecher’s offensive game.

"“The majority of his goals are scored in tight to the net. He has the quick hands to pounce on rebounds, get deflections, and bang in one-timers in close. He also has the soft hands to deke a goaltender in tight… He extends plays on the cycle, controlling the puck down low and giving his linemates time to get open. He shows the quick hands and the agility to make creative moves to shake a defender and open up a passing lane. Beecher has the vision to find an open teammate and can pass the puck through tight openings…”~Ben Kerr, LWOH"

Beecher is a bit of a lazy player. He looks very lackadaisical in his play, never showing 100% effort until the puck is in a high danger area. Forechecking is also a grey area in his game, as he glides in on the attack and not taking advantage of his good speed. While he does show an active stick and good anticipation, often breaking up passes, he doesn’t forecheck hard enough to get by at the NHL level. This also rings true while on the backcheck as well.

John Beecher played center for the USNTDP, but he was inconsistent in the face-off dot and may not be a center at the next level, and could shift over to the wing. If he does move to the wing, he could take advantage of what LWOH’s Ben Kerr notes as a good one-timer. This could be a beneficial move for Beecher in order to open up his offensive potential as well.

Due to the USNTDP being stacked with talent, Beecher was unable to get a lot of powerplay time. However, he did kill penalties. He showed a willingness to block shots when needed. Beecher was also positionally sound, never over-committing to a play or chasing the puck.

Defensively, at even strength, Beecher showed strong positioning as well. He also displayed his fantastic poke-check. As stated earlier, Beecher has an active stick, and that translates into him having good hand-eye coordination, and being able to knock the puck off an opponents stick with regularity. He supports his teammates down low, helping contain the opposition on the cycle.

Despite playing what looks to be a slow game with seemingly little effort, Beecher consistently finds himself in the right place at the right time. That’s due to his high-end awareness and hockey sense. His ability to read each play quickly and effectively is his strong point and is the biggest reason why he wound up being a first-round pick.

John Beecher looks like a third-line winger for the future, with penalty-killing capabilities. Playing a two-way, power game, Beecher does not have a very high ceiling. It also doesn’t help that he shows a lack of effort. He needs to give his all in every shift. However, he is a safe bet to make the NHL with his size and skating. I’d say he is two years out from being NHL ready, thanks mostly for his hockey sense being at an already high level.

Conclusion

It’s no secret that the Boston Bruins did reach a bit with their selection of Beecher. Though his size and skating paired with his hockey sense are tantalizing, there were other players for the taking. Players who have a higher ceiling fell into the Bruins laps and they passed up on them. While this isn’t a bad pick by any means, the Boston Bruins simply had better options available.

If Beecher can put his talents on full display with the University of Michigan with a much larger role, the selection is much more justified and understandable. But, it is a little bit of a gamble.