HOW HAS SENNECKE ADAPTED TO NHL STARDOM SO QUICKLY? | Anaheim Ducks Updates

HOW HAS SENNECKE ADAPTED TO NHL STARDOM SO QUICKLY? | Anaheim Ducks Updates

Beckett Senica may be the most surprisingly dominant rookie in the National Hockey League up to this point in the season, but what has made him so impactful? You are Locked On NHL prospects, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hello and welcome back to Lockdown NHL Prospects, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. On this show, we break down everything prospects related for you 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. I’m your host, Sebastian Hyde, the USA Scout over at Elite Prospects. And on today’s episode, we’re going to be focusing on the Anaheim Ducks and more specifically on Beckett Senica, who’s made a fantastic debut in the National Hockey League so far in his very young career. And he wasn’t necessarily expected to even make the team in training camp, at least outside the Anaheim market. Uh I I know I had my doubts. I was expecting him to to be at least sent back to junior after a nineame trial or so, but he is stuck like absolute superglue and become irreplaceable for this team. Just truly an impactful player who’s currently riding a sevengame point streak. There’s so much to love with Beckett Senica. So, on today’s show, we’re going to be breaking down how he plays the game. Um, looking back at his draft stock and maybe how he’s progressed since then, then diving into his season this year, including some statistics to paint a picture of how he’s been playing. And finally, wrapping up the show by looking ahead at what his end potential may be and who his best linemates within the Anaheim Ducks organization could be as well, because there may already be more than one clue. But that’s the outlook here for today’s show. But before we jump into it, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app right now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. So Beckett Senica, fascinating hockey player and and one that I’ve been so interested in watching for uh quite a number of years at this point. a player that uh has just always exuded creativity, confidence, uh handling skill, um being able to break games open and and and complete highlight real plays like very few others uh across the National Hockey League or at least among prospects in that age group. It’s a rarity and uh and for that reason, he’s also a player that that that grew on me quite significantly over the course of that season uh in the for the 2024 NHL draft. And uh he ended up uh being ranked at 10th overall for me personally. And uh that’s low with hindsight here. He is he’s been top five and I mean, hey, third overall uh impactful as Ivon Deminov has been in Montreal. I don’t know if there’s many people in Anaheim regarding that draft decision right now because Senica has just been so fantastic in a multitude of different ways. So, let’s look at Beckett Senica’s profile first and foremost. If you’re not familiar with this player uh or just want a little refresher, this is a 19-year-old winger, right winger, uh who stands at 6’3, 205 pounds and had a pretty late growth spurt. So, while when he was drafted, he was still kind of getting used to his body proportions, to the weight distribution, uh, and looked a bit wonky and and and unstable at times as he was just getting used to, uh, playing with a larger frame and growing into his body. Uh, but in that season, uh, the actual production on the surface was good, if not excellent, with 68 points in 63 games in this drafty year campaign. but he really massively heated up in the second half. The gap or the the improvement between the first half and the second half of that season was massive by the playoffs as one of the most the most dominant players in the entire Ontario Hockey League. And then uh this past season he went right back to the Ashawa Generals in the OHL and put up 36 goals and 86 points in just 56 games. Just lighting it up. uh especially with that playmaking skill, the hands, creating loads of space for his teammates. And he’s gotten year after year more and more comfortable with using his body, his strength, his power uh to create time and space for himself and his teammates on puck. And so far this season with the Anaheim Ducks, this guy has been a forcheing machine. Incredibly difficult to play against. Very disruptive with his stick. Uh very physically engaged, closes his his gaps aggressively. uh applies pressure just incessantly and that has resulted here in 24 games uh to start his NHL career with seven goals and 18 points. That is uh crazy stuff. That puts him uh at second in the rookie points uh list right now behind Ivon Deidov. And overall uh yeah, this this guy’s been arriving really really well in the National Hockey League. And um I think what’s really stood out to me as well is the chemistry he’s been able to build with a multitude of different players already here so far this season. We’re going to talk specifically about his connection with Cutter Goce in the next segment. But I think what makes Becket Senica so appealing already at this young stage of his career is how adaptable and versatile he is. that style of play of intensity and physicality and high-end skill with the puck on his stick while also uh having added a lot of mental pace to his game on Puck since being drafted, making really quick decisions while he’s under pressure, retaining possession, not just trying to go play hero puck. And uh while we still are seeing flashes of his junior game coming out uh in terms of of of just junior style deaks and dangles that he’s trying to attempt uh if he’s in a bind that that that work against his own age group, but just don’t fly in the National Hockey League. That’s led to some giveaways. He’s certainly leaning a lot more towards giveaways and takeaways here so far this season. but still because he’s been able to bring that value on the forch check, he’s constantly constantly supporting his teammates uh and and creating space for them uh down low in the offensive zone where it counts the very most. And I think that with that versatility, Beckett Senica has just been able to find such a nice place in this lineup that even when the lines get mixed up a little bit and he has to adjust the way that he approaches because you play with every different linemate slightly differently, you you play off of them in different ways, but his adaptations to those uh line switches and in what I’ve seen so far this season have been impressively quick. So, uh very intelligent player, has all the skill in the world. He still looks a little bit wonky on his feet in all honesty. I still think that if you give him another two or three years to develop and maybe focus on that um just coordination the SK on his feet uh a little bit more, this guy could be an absolute like like fluid moving like powerhouse off the wing uh in in terms of of a power playmaker who’s able to attack at speed, change directions very quickly on a dime. got that agility, the hands keep up no matter what with the feet. Uh and and he has both a shot and a playmaking arsenal to make defenses pay. And uh that type of triple threat in the offensive zone is a rare one. And you pair that with physicality as well. And it’s a unicorn profile and you can understand why the Ducks ended up selecting Becca Senica at third overall, perhaps controversially there back in 2024. and of course shocked Senica himself most of all of anybody in that building. I know at the same time before the pick uh rang out through the rafters. Uh I was I was having a conversation with uh Brock Autton and Derek Newman from McKeen’s hockey and I believe we were spitballing that like at that point Beckett probably was our favorite to go there. We’ve been starting to hear some some murmurss around the floor uh there at the draft and uh and it just kind of made sense to us with how under wraps things were being kept during that draft class and uh and yeah, so it was kind of a a cool feeling to be among the the the less stunned people in the building uh when that selection was announced. But Becket Senica has just been uh improving steadily ever since and and repaying the confidence of that selection. and uh we’ll keep digging into his game and specifically um what has made him adapt so seamlessly to the National Hockey League level because I think there’s a couple things here to really highlight. Uh but before we do that, we’ve got a quick message here from our sponsors at Lockdown and HL Prospects. Let’s be honest, most of us can’t even name all of our financial accounts, let alone what they’re worth. Between 401ks, savings, and investments, it’s always so easy to lose track. And that can mean leaving money on the table. 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And I know other people in the scouting community perhaps expected as well, but I know Ducks fans were among the the most uh confident in his ability to step right in and and and good on them for knowing their prospects. uh certainly has become uh a very informed fan base around the NHL in the last uh at least like 101 15 years. I I’ve really always enjoyed my interactions with Ducks fans wherever I’ve had them. And um I think the thing that I want to focus on here most of all is his evasiveness powered by his handling. I think this is if you had to isolate a single element and of course there’s always more than one element. There are dozens upon dozens. But if there’s one primary one that I think is kind of the the crux of this point, it is that elite level evasiveness and and handling ability that Senica has. He’s so difficult to strip of the puck. Uh he’s always stick handling in the phone booth, making the tiniest little maneuvers to just evade stick checks. And uh he’s also increasingly been able to use his body, his physicality, his strength, uh to to complement that toolkit with some some puck protection mechanics uh really growing on here. And and I think that that also feeds in with this uh evasiveness. And one of the reasons I say that his evasiveness is is is been the most important or integral piece of why he’s looked as good as he has in the National Hockey League so far, it’s because it powers so many different aspects of his game. His playmaking game is largely powered by his deceptiveness, which in turn is supported by his uh evasiveness with his handling skill. He’s unpredictable with the puck. He hides his intentions really really effectively through his handling skill and and just the the natural talent he has or hard work talent he has in that regard. And uh I think that with that uh being able to to evade opponents really well, he’s able to drag opponents into his orbit like like a gravitational field almost. I’ve seen this in a couple uh Ducks games I’ve tuned in for this season where defenders are just gravitating towards Beckett Senica. They all have a confidence that they’re able to maybe strip the puck off of this young uh spry 19-year-old kid uh and and and and catch him off guard. But Senica is among the most skilled improvisers that we’ve seen come through the draft in the last couple seasons. He’s at his best when he is trying to solve problems on the fly. He’s so so difficult to pin down and contain and secure the puck from. And with that, you have a lot more space that opens up for his teammates. This in turn opens up also some passing lanes and playmaking opportunities for Becca Senica. And it really has been the playmaking element that has been uh really impressive to me personally. I mean, he has like six assists in his last seven games. It’s like one assist every single night. Just the model of consistency over the course of this recent sevengame point streak. and counting. Uh, and again, it all goes back to that base of handling and of evasiveness. Uh, but what I find super interesting with this is that the evasiveness itself is is not just something that’s powering his offensive game. It’s also creating offensive opportunities, extended offensive opportunities for the Anaheim Ducks. What I mean is that Beckett Senica is a penalty drawing king. He has 14 drawn penalties on the season. That’s more than one every two games. That is insane. Uh just for comparison, he’s sitting at 14 on the season. The next highest duck in in the drawn penalty counter is Olen Zelwagger with eight. That’s six less. That’s almost 50% less than where Beckett Senica is at. He is just constantly forcing defenders to overextend, to be a bit overzealous, over aggressive uh by something with a sense of overconfidence that I theorize has something to do with how wonky he might still look on his feet. He looks beatable in a way, but the puck just always sticks to his stick in some way or another. And with that talent, with that skill, uh he’s able to then draw sticks into places where uh he is very happy to uh make use of them and and and and uh and draw penalties and and create massive power play opportunities for uh a very young and talented Ducks power play to go to work. So 14 drawn penalties. Uh that would be a total of uh what 28 power play minutes. of course uh less than that because they’ve scored on multiple of them. Uh but still 28 penalty minutes uh drawn uh so far this season and uh Beckett Senica he has only played in uh 24 games. So that’s more than a penalty minute a a game that Beckett Senica is giving his team uh and is doing so at a rate that nobody can compete with him on at least to start the season here so far. And as he gets better, as he gets more agile, as he gets a bit more fluid, you could expect that number to go up further. So, a lot of things that I really respect here with Beckett Senica in terms of standing out from the pack and really um making making himself a specialist in more ways than one. He’s not just a playmaker. He’s not just a power forward. He’s not just a skilled for checker. He’s not just a heavy shooter. He’s not just a penalty drawing force. He does all of these things while working very hard, bringing intensity, refining details, and yeah, there’s still mistakes here and there. You see young player, he’s 19 years of age, but uh the production’s been fantastic. Uh the deployment’s been like second line caliber minutes uh for much of the season, some third line deployment as well. Um, but overall he’s a guy that I think despite these uh maybe areas to iron out in terms of the wonkiness and the junior type skill plays he still attempts uh in in in suboptimal conditions at times that is uh more than worth the the the price of having him high up in your lineup and and and h having a bunch of puck touches. So, a player that I think a lot of us were expecting to be a force for team Canada at the World Junior Championship. There’s no shot Anaheim’s letting him go to that. He’s way too important for this team. Uh, and and I think that all of this, all of these strengths, all of the reasons that he’s adapted so seamlessly to the National Hockey League, even including the evasiveness, because it’s not just handling, it’s activity and aggressiveness. He puts defenders in uncomfortable positions by pushing them back on their heels and attacking very directly, trying to cut to the middle of the ice. He gets tripped in those situations. This is a a a hardworking player who creates those small little advantages through his work ethic and through just being aggressive, anticipating play, trying to jump passing lanes, trying to just do anything to to to give Anaheim a slight advantage in in in terms of creating and generating the next scoring chance on the ice. And uh that’s all just combined for a spectacular start to his rookie campaign. And uh I mean he’s been playing around like 17 minutes a night uh for much of this season. I mean hey that is not bad whatsoever for a player that uh really up until the last two months of his draft cycle was ranked outside the top 15 and for a lot of different people. Yeah was a late riser and up at third overall but th this guy is credit the Anaheim Duck scouting staff. It was a uh a bullish swing uh to say the very least uh to just put all your chips on the table, go all in on Becket Senica. It’s paying off early and I think it’ll keep paying off down the road. Uh he’s been looking just fantastic. But uh that’s it for the second segment. In the final one, we’ll wrap up the show by talking about his potential ideal linemates and where he might end up uh in terms of the ceiling here in the National Hockey League. But before we do that, we got a quick message from our sponsors at Locked On NHL Prospects. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who you think will score next to big fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at an even bigger payout. I know that’s my personal favorite way to play, taking big swings on multiple predictions that I have in a single bet in order to maximize my potential returns. It keeps every single game exciting, too, especially when your team is making that big late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers 300 bucks in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, let’s wrap up the show here in the final segment. Uh talking about Becket Senica and his fantastic uh start to his NHL career here. uh playing big minutes, producing big numbers uh and overall just being an absolute gem uh for the Anaheim Ducks here so far and a player that every single team in the league would uh love to have on their roster, let me tell you that much. Uh he’s not fun to play against either. But he’s just so quickly become invaluable to this team. But again, the question here is just how high is the ceiling and who are his best linemates? Let’s start with the second part of that, the linemate question. It’s been really clear this season. Becca Senica has played by far his best hockey alongside Cutter Goats. They’ve played quite a lot together as well, might I add. Uh they’ve played well over 200 minutes uh together uh so far this season at five on five. Yeah, 246 minutes according to Natural Statick. And uh Beckett Senica has only played a 100red minutes at a five on five uh away from cutter go. And the gap between those two results is massive. Together uh these guys have put up uh 16 goals to eight goals against at even strength. That’s a 66.67 goals for percentage. Uh that is good. You are doubling your opponent’s goals on the ice. In terms of chance generation, it’s not quite that much, but it’s still quite impressive with 55.83% in the expected goals uh for column. And even in terms of shot generation, shot generation, the core C4 numbers are 56.23%. So everything here is 55 and above. Got some things in the 65s and above. Beckett Senica without cutter goier the shot share drops all the way down to 39%. The goals four percentage goes from 67 to 22% only two goals for and seven goals against in 100 minutes on the ice at five on five without cutter goats for Becket Senica. And in terms of expected goals for it’s not much better uh with 32.5% in that margin. So overall, Beckett Senica very clearly has been playing a lot better with Cutter Goce than he has without, and he’s played extraordinarily well whenever he’s been paired with Cutter Goceier. I would love to see long-term a top line of of those two with, of course, Leo Carlson down the middle. I think that would just be incredibly entertaining as the long-term top line. We haven’t seen those three play together all that many games this season. Um, it’s largely just been a couple shifts here and there that I’ve seen at least, but uh, but I think that that in terms of toolkits, they would mesh incredibly well. You have the pure sniper in Cutter Goce, who’s also physical and mean and gets to the net front. You have Beckett Senica who has the elite level handling ability, that power forward game to cut to the middle of the ice. got a bit more meanness to him this season and again is a penalty drawing master through his evasiveness and and puck handling skill and he’s also a strong playmaker, right? A playmaking power forward. And then you have uh a a truly elite two-way center who can do things so special with the puck on his stick through elite level IQ with Leo Carlson. Uh but that’s also true in the defensive zone. Uh he’s he’s really really solid in his own end. so detailed, meticulously scans the ice, constantly adjusting his position, getting his stick into passing lanes. I don’t have to gush too much over Leo Carlson. If you’ve ever watched him play a single game here in the last year, you know just how good he’s been here for Anaheim, but those three together, I think, would be a a wonderful top line to work towards. And they could even be playing together as soon as this season. Currently Troy Terry’s oper um operating in that topline right-wing role alongside Goceier and uh Carlson, but uh yeah, he brings in a lot more speed, a bit more of a transition threat uh than Becca Senica at this stage in his career does, but I think that Senica would be a wonderful addition to that top line with those two players. And again, the gaps between his his his his effectiveness with and without goceier, I think it speaks for itself as well. And in terms of overall upside for Becca Senica, topline power playmaker, we’re talking 85 to 100 point range upside in his prime. Uh maybe 35 goals. Um lots of assists adding on to that. a lot of draw penalties, a lot of highlight reel dangles, and a couple endto-end highlights as well by year’s end. I think Becket Senica has a lot of special uh assets in his toolkit and uh his versatility, his ability to play that very pretty, elegant, uh dangling style of hockey where he’s just weaving through defenses and also just be able sometimes to be a bulldozer and get his way to the net front, power his way through, use that big frame. That duality is specifically what makes Becca Senica so special, what paired with his high-end skill and high-end intelligence. And I think that as well something to note here uh so far this season at five on five. Becca Senica is getting some really nice goalc scoring chances. He’s fifth on the team in in in individual expected goals uh per 60 which basically just means the rate of dangerous chances he is getting that he should be scoring just under a goal every 60 minutes at even strength. That would be like a five on five goal every four games or so if you’re playing about 15 minutes a night at even strength which which is certainly more than he’s playing right now. But just um to kind of paint a picture of it, that’s a very strong rate in terms of chance generation and getting into dangerous areas and accessing the low slot and and really being able to create for himself. And the players above him are the ones that you would expect. the guys like Leo Carlson, the guys like uh Cutter Goats, the guys like I I believe Ryan Stro is in there as well uh with that veteran netfront presence. But yeah, Becca Senica with that versatility uh with this diversity and what he’s able to do, I think is really what he what has established him as as such an impactful player as a rookie here for the Anaheim Ducks. And uh again, that 14 drawn penalties were the next highest. is eight on the entire team. And I mean, Senica is not playing the most minutes on ice among this team. That’s not ice time adjust. It’s just plain statistics. Uh and yeah, he he’s just been so difficult to pin down. And to be that out of the gate as an NHL rookie, that’s something special. That’s something to keep a note of. So Anaheim Ducks fans, I would love to hear about your enthusiasm, excitement for this prospect in the comments down below if you are watching on YouTube. But that does wrap things up here for us today. If you’re listening on your favorite podcasting platform, please do make sure to make us your first listen of the day. Uh for your second listening, head on over to Lockdown Fantasy Hockey where Flip and Steel break down everything that you need to know to build yourself a competitive and sustainable fantasy roster. Thank you so much for listening. As always, I am your host, Sebastian High, the USA Scout at Elite Prospects, and I’ll catch you tuning in again very, very soon.

The Ducks are off to a strong start to the season, and in this episode, I break down the standout performances from Beckett Sennecke, who’s riding a 7-game point streak. The 19-year-old winger has drawn almost twice as many penalties as his next closest teammate through high-end handling skill and evasiveness. But just how high does his upside reach, and who may be his best linemates in the organization?

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