Twenty-four-year-old centres who were drafted in the first round don’t become available for free all that often.
So it only made sense for the Calgary Flames to make a waiver claim for John Beecher when the Boston Bruins made him available on Monday.
Twenty-four hours later, Beecher officially was the newest member of the Calgary Flames.
At 6-foot-3 and 220 lbs., the Elmira, N.Y., native will bring size and physicality to the middle of the ice.
His offensive numbers certainly don’t pop — he had just 11 goals and 11 assists in 136 games for the Bruins — but Beecher should provide some depth at centre and was used regularly on the penalty kill in Boston.
Selected 30th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, Beecher spent the next two seasons with the University of Michigan before transitioning to the professional game and splitting his time between Providence in the AHL and the Bruins.
The 2024-25 season was his first spent entirely in the NHL and he signed a one-year, US$900,000 contract extension with the Bruins this off-season.
With Nazem Kadri, Morgan Frost and Mikael Backlund firmly established as the centres on the Flames’ top three lines, Beecher likely will be competing with the likes of Sam Morton — who was called up from the AHL’s Wranglers this week — and Justin Kirkland for playing time in the middle of the team’s fourth line.
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Beecher is two years younger than Morton and five years younger than Kirkland — who recently was re-assigned to the Wranglers — and, given his first-round pedigree, the Flames will be hoping a change of scenery can kickstart his game.