Owen Beck Might Be Better Than Anyone Is Expecting

Owen Beck seems to have quietly fallen into that dangerous category of hockey prospect: the guy people have started writing off before he's really been given much of a chance. I'm not ready to do that yet.

Beck has now spent two seasons bouncing between Montreal and Laval, and the numbers don't exactly scream future NHL star. He has 28 NHL games and two points. His AHL production has been solid rather than spectacular. Nothing there makes you immediately imagine a future 30-goal scorer. But maybe that's not what Beck is supposed to become.

What if Owen Beck's game simply fits the NHL better?

That's the possibility that keeps me wondering. Beck's value has always been in the parts of the game that don't necessarily jump off a stat sheet. He's a responsible centre. He can take faceoffs. He's smart defensively. He can move around the lineup. And he's the kind of player a coach might trust with a lead in the final few minutes of a game.

Those things matter more in the NHL than they sometimes do in the AHL. In Laval, Beck may be expected to create offence. In Montreal, he wouldn't necessarily have to be. That's a pretty important difference. Sometimes a player spends years being asked to prove he can become a star, even though his actual NHL future is built around becoming something else entirely.

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The best-case scenario for Beck is a real NHL job.

Realistically, Beck probably isn't going to arrive this season and suddenly become Montreal's second-line centre. But the best-case scenario might be much simpler—and perhaps more valuable. What if Beck wins a job as a dependable third- or fourth-line centre and simply refuses to give it back?

Of Montreal's internal options, he has some of the qualities you want in that role. He can take important draws. He has enough size at around 200 pounds. He understands the defensive side of the game. And if he can chip in a little offence, all the better. Perhaps the secondary story here is about opportunity.

Young players don't always develop in a straight line. Sometimes another year in the AHL doesn't solve anything. Sometimes the player needs to get out of development mode and into a real NHL role.

Beck may be ready to take his NHL chance.

And that's why training camp could be interesting. The Canadiens don't necessarily need Owen Beck to become a star. They may simply need him to become useful. And sometimes that's where a player's real NHL career begins.

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