Don Sweeney has his fair share of critics regarding his drafting in recent years. Players like Vaakanainen, Senyshyn, and Studnicka haven’t lived up to their expectations, and most blame must be put on Sweeney’s shoulders. People have started to doubt that Beecher will become anything mainly due to his low point totals, which is a fair critique. I am not in the same boat as these people, and I want to discuss it.
John Beecher was never going to put up 100 points a year, and that’s not why the Bruins drafted him. When John was drafted, he already had NHL size and currently is 6’3 and 200lbs. If you look at prospect rankings and reviews of his game prior to the 2019 draft, you start to get the picture of why the Bruins were so high on him.
“Between his size and his balance, he likes to play in front of the opposing goaltender, where he can be near impossible to dislodge” – McKeen’s Hockey.
“He has a really good understanding of how to use his body to shield pucks and win battles on the boards.” – Hockeyprospect.com
“Dynamic center who can skate, shoot and pass, he is good at reading the ice and recognizing where his teammates are” – Future Considerations 2019
This year should be his coming out party and give fans a better idea of what he can bring to the big club. Beecher only played nine games for Providence last year and put up a respectable 5 points in those games. In my opinion, he draws many comparisons to a less tough Milan Lucic. If you cast your mind back to Lucic’s first few years, specifically the 2011 cup run, he was an integral part of that team. He was going into every corner, battling hard for every 50/50 puck, and it was impossible to knock off the puck. I know that Beecher isn’t as aggressive or tough as Lucic was, but he is a big kid who they need to plant in front of the net on the PP. Most folks see Beecher on the second line in Providence to start the season, and I don’t think that is a bad idea. He should transition his game and be ready to become that all-important playmaking power forward that the B’s have been missing.
The Bruins will be very shorthanded to start the year after a bunch of surgeries in the offseason, and they need to be ready to make roster moves. If Beecher performs well and starts to put up some points in his first full year in Providence, I think we could see him being called up for a third or fourth-line role. Similar to the Mark Mclaughlin call-up towards the end of last season, it would give fans a chance to see what he is all about. If he can turn the corner and start to be that big-bodied net-front presence, then he will endear himself to Bruins fans in no time. Try to keep in mind that he is only 21 and still has lots of time to improve his game and to prove all of those doubters wrong.
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