Owen Beck was the first player selected in the second round of the 2022 Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, but we rarely hear about him, unlike Lane Hutson who was selected 29 picks later. Beck is still one of the important prospects of the organization, however, and was a revelation for many in his first development camp, so much so that he was invited to the rookie camp and even to the main camp. His hard work was immediately rewarded when Kent Hughes signed him to an entry-level deal at the start of October 2022. Still, he was sent back to his junior team as there was room to grow in the Ontario Hockey League.
He was a highly sought-after player in the run-up to the Memorial Cup both in 2022-23 and this last season. In 2022-23 he went from the Mississauga Steelheads to his hometown team the Peterborough Petes who were confident they’d be part of the national tournament, which they were. They made the semi-final game, but they bowed out of the tournament when they were beaten 4-1 by the Seattle Thunderbirds, ending their national championship dream. This time around, he’ll be a part of the host team, the Saginaw Spirit.
Beck Is Still Trending Up
In 2022, when drafted by the Canadiens, he had just registered a 51-point season with the Steelheads and had impressed with his faceoff skills all season long. After his first professional training camp, he started the 2022-23 season with 30 games in Mississauga before he was traded to the Petes and played another 30 games with them. In the 60 games that lasted his regular season, he obtained 66 points, 15 more than in his previous season.
Related: Canadiens’ Prospect Owen Beck Recaps His Whirlwind Season
Then, last season, he played 25 games with the Petes recording 30 points in the process before adding another 51 points in 32 games with the Spirit, for a total of 83 points for yet another increased production (plus-17).
Mission Memorial Cup
Even though the Spirit bowed out in the OHL’s semifinal, they’ll still be present in this season’s Memorial Cup tourney since they will host the tournament from May 24 to June 2. They will be joined by the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors, the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, and from their league, the London Knights, the very team who beat them 4-2 in the OHL semi-final.
Beck will no doubt be hoping for a better outcome than in the 2023 edition of the tournament. In the five games the Petes played, he recorded a goal, two assists, six penalty minutes, nine shots, and a minus-2 differential. It wasn’t a very impactful performance, to say the least.
This year’s edition will be his last opportunity to win the Memorial Cup before he turns professional this fall. It will be hard to get past the OHL champions, and the Knights’ best player, Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospect Easton Cowan, who finished the playoffs with 34 points in 18 games. Cowan was named MVP of both the regular season and the playoffs, a first since Mitch Marner accomplished the feat eight years ago also with the Knights.
What to Expect From Beck in the NHL
Although his offensive game has matured over the last couple of seasons, do not expect Beck to be an offensive juggernaut in the NHL. At best, he could potentially make the top six but the hope this season is that everyone stays healthy and there is no room in the higher part of the lineup. His success in the faceoff dot could make him an important part of the Canadiens soon. At the very least, he could be an improvement over Jake Evans as the third-line center.
He can be sent out to take important faceoffs in the defensive zone when protecting a lead, and he can also be a very efficient penalty killer. He’s very aware of what’s going on all over the ice and can be an asset in the transition game being a great playmaker who finds the right angles.
It will be interesting to see if he can make a push as early as this upcoming season to “steal another player’s chair” as head coach Martin St. Louis would say. He could use a year of seasoning in the American Hockey League (AHL), however, since there will be a logjam in Montreal this season unless Hughes finds a way to clear some space by trading Christian Dvorak away for instance. Even then, I’m not convinced he would be well-served by being rushed up now. A year with plenty of ice time with the Laval Rocket wouldn’t hurt and would allow the Canadiens to see how his offensive game translates at the professional level.
