Per Elliotte Friedman on Tuesday afternoon, the Calgary Flames have claimed Boston Bruins forward John Beecher off waivers.
Weighing in at six-foot-three and 220-pounds, the Elmira, New York product brings some size to the equation.
He a left shot center. The Flames have plenty of those, but very few with positive face-off stats. Beecher is 53.1% on 1,045 career face-offs. Not bad. Signed to a one-year, $900,000 contract, John has a goal in six games this season, while dropping in and out of the lineup. Over his career, Beecher has 11 goals and 11 assists in 136 games.
The 24-year-old is fast. In fact, he was faster than Calgary’s fastest skater last season; Martin Pospisil.
The numbers look similar until you factor in that Martin Pospisil played 238:22 in ice time more than Beecher. Here is how their per 60 speed bursts look:
To say that the Flames have missed Martin Pospisil’s impact this season is an understatement. The team is 10-28-4 (.285) without him since the start of the 2023-24 season.
With the speedy Slovak, Calgary is 74-52-8, or .582—it’s fair to say that they’re missing his speed and puck pressure this season as they sit in last place with a 5-12-3 record.
The Catch
So, the Flames have claimed a young, giant center who skates faster than any current player on the roster, is great at face-offs and carries a first-round pedigree.
Did we mention that? Beecher was selected 30th overall in 2019. Just four selections after Flames first rounder Jakob Pelletier.
This all begs the question: Why did Boston let go of a player like that?
Health
There are some red flags in terms of John Beecher’s health. He was limited to only 4:07 of ice time on Nov. 6 against the Senators and appeared to be injured on a minor shove.
Beecher had been fighting something previously. He missed Boston’s first five games, had his debut in a back-to-back and then dropped out of the lineup again. He’ll get back in and then drop out again.
John is clearly not healthy as of the Flames picking him up on waivers.
Out-Competed
Health wasn’t an excuse used by Bruins head coach Marco Sturm.
“I can only tell my side. I think (general manager) Don (Sweeney) can answer better than I do. This is something I think we touched on for a while, past my time, that’s for sure. For me as a new coach, I gave him a new opportunity. And quite frankly, I thought he would be a little bit better, more effective,” Explained the rookie head coach on Tuesday. “And I thought he wasn’t. At some point we have to make a decision how to move forward.”
Ouch. Sturm wasn’t done.
“Consistency, effort. I know it’s not easy being in and out of our lineup, but I have guys just waiting for this moment,” Sturm said. “End of the day, it’s always up to the player.”
Sounds like John is having about as bad of a season as the rest of the Calgary Flames.
Moving Forward
The Flames are the slowest team in the NHL. No surprise when the team sits in 32nd place in the standings, but they’re also 32nd in speed bursts over 20 miles per hour at 310.
The NHL average is currently 425, so we’re not talking behind be a little; they are a brutally slow team this season.
If John Beecher can bring the quality of play that he brought last season, he instantly becomes the fastest skater on the Flames. His metrics suggest that he could join several teams and hold that claim to fame.
But he needs to be healthy.
Do the Calgary Flames give him the time he needs to get his health back on track?
Can John get his compete level up if he’s playing though something?
That’s why we watch sports. Welcome to Calgary, John.
Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, MoneyPuck, Cap Wages, NHL Edge, and the National Hockey League.
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Thanks Trevor!
Great write up. Slowest team in the league!!!! That is hard to do!
Lets hope the Beech fits in well in Calgary. Finally, a big body that is good on the dot. Seems strange Boston gives up on a young guy with his pedigree. Lets hope there is something there.