Rocket: Oliver Kapanen has really taken Owen Beck’s place at center

As everyone knows, the Montréal Canadiens have a well-stocked bank of talented young players.

Whether in attack, defense or in front of the net, the Habs have a number of solid prospects who aspire to the National Hockey League.

However, not all of them will make it to the NHL, at least not with the Habs, due to a lack of available positions in Montreal.

This means that, unless they have exceptional status like Ivan Demidov, no Habs prospect will be guaranteed a position in Montreal.

There will be many interesting battles between the Habs’ young players for a position in the sun.

One of these battles is already underway, and I’m talking about the one between Oliver Kapanen and Owen Beck.

Indeed, we’ve been comparing these two young players for some time now, observing and analyzing them closely to get a better idea of which of them will get a spot in Montreal.

Both 21-year-olds have had their chance with the Habs this season (Kapanen: 21 games, including three in the playoffs; Beck: 12 games), and are therefore approaching the NHL at the same pace.

However, now that both are playing for the Laval Rocket in the playoffs, it’s clear that Oliver Kapanen is being prioritized, since he’s being used at center while Owen Beck is not.

Indeed, since Kapanen was sent to Laval after the Canadiens were eliminated, he seems to have taken Beck’s place, who now plays on the wing of the fourth line (which isn’t really a fourth line, though).

Kapanen plays center to Brandon Gignac and Joshua Roy, while Beck plays wing to Florian Xhekaj and Jared Davidson.

The two have therefore been placed on a good line, but only one of them plays in his natural position.

We can therefore potentially deduce that Pascal Vincent, and even the Habs organization, slightly prefer Kapanen, and therefore see the Finn ahead of Beck in the club’s hierarchy.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean that Kapanen will win a position in Montreal next season if one becomes available, but it does give us an idea of where the battle between the two currently stands.

If Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia were to leave via the free agent market, there would clearly be a depth position available, and that position would most likely be fought out between Beck and Kapanen.

But you can never count out a surprise like Florian Xhekaj or Jared Davidson.

Do you prefer Oliver Kapanen or Owen Beck?

Overtime

– It’s rare to start a GM’s reign with the first overall pick.