The writing was on the wall for John Beecher's future with the Boston Bruins. He had fallen out of favor with Marco Sturm, which left Don Sweeney with not a whole lot of options. Beecher's value tanked in the organization, but once Sweeney put him on waivers, he didn't make it past the Calgary Flames, who claimed him without any hesitation.
Most Bruins fans assumed Beecher would be claimed. Most also thought that there was some value in the former first-round pick, but not enough value for any team to give up assets for him. It left Sweeney in a tough spot, or so we thought. According to Darren Dreger, via the Barn Burner podcast, Sweeney didn't do much due diligence before putting Beecher on waivers.
"I just can't believe that you couldn't get something back for Johnny Beecher and the reason I say that is the number of teams that didn't know, apparently, that they were gonna put him on waivers, like do you not put out that call?"Darren Dreger
A common act in the NHL when putting a player on waivers is to put out a call to your fellow general managers to see if there is any interest. If there is interest, teams might be reluctant to put that player on waivers for fear of losing them for nothing. Dreger believes that Sweeney could've accrued some assets for Beecher if he had put out that call.
Insider's shot at Don Sweeney about John Beecher doesn't paint the whole picture
Many external factors don't necessarily make this accurate. It's possible that the teams he did talk to weren't interested in trading future assets, and instead, a roster-for-roster deal, which would defeat the purpose of Sweeney trying to clear cap space.
Beecher's value in the organization might've also been so low that the front office assumed they wouldn't get any team to give up assets for him. If you have a former first-round pick free for the taking with additional cap space to spare, it'd be hard for the Flames to pass him up. However, that doesn't mean they'd be willing to part ways with an asset to get him.
While I don't believe in some of Sweeney's tactics, it might be a bit premature to throw him under the bus for this Beecher claim. Maybe you would've liked to see him be a bit more proactive and try to grab a late-round pick, but the front office likely believed that the potential for him to pass through unscathed was better than whatever minor asset they were going to get in return in a trade.
After no points in three games and an already declining ice time in Calgary, fans shouldn't turn on Sweeney for this decision just yet.