Anyone who followed Beckett Sennecke and his exploits before his draft night already knew what he was about, but his first imprint on the NHL world came with his unforgettable, shocked reaction to the Anaheim Ducks calling out his name with the No. 3 pick in Las Vegas in 2024.
There was zero suspense when Macklin Celebrini went No. 1 to the San Jose Sharks. And there was more talk about the Chicago Blackhawks possibly taking Ivan Demidov at No. 2 instead of their eventual pick, Artyom Levshunov.
A common thought was that the Ducks would snap up the prospect Chicago didn’t choose. Sennecke? Sure, the Toronto-native winger had a breakout Ontario Hockey League playoffs for the Oshawa Generals, but he didn’t obliterate the OHL. He didn’t have a lengthy international junior profile with Hockey Canada. He was a fast riser with increasing momentum that draft year, enough to propel him into the top 10. But the third pick?
Sennecke is now making it clear that he wasn’t a reach for Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek. The rookie, who turned 20 last week, is enjoying an excellent season and has at least inserted his name into the Calder Trophy finalist conversation alongside Matthew Schaefer, the New York Islanders’ fantastic 18-year-old defenseman.
Sennecke is the leading goal-scorer among rookies with 18 and is second to the Montreal Canadiens’ Demidov among rookies in points (44). Sennecke could join Bobby Ryan and Trevor Zegras as the Ducks’ highest Calder finishers — Ryan was second to Steve Mason in 2009, Zegras was second to Moritz Seider in 2022 — even if he doesn’t become the club’s first winner.
When did the Ducks first seriously consider Sennecke for the No. 3 pick? Verbeek isn’t eager to divulge that, even more than 18 months later. “Well, we have our draft list,” he said. “I don’t like to tell you secrets.”
But Verbeek did take a bit of umbrage with the notion that Sennecke should have been considered a surprise pick. And then he opened a window into why Sennecke was their guy.
“When I went and watched him play, I thought he was extremely talented,” Verbeek said. “There’s a package there that, for me, has a chance to be off the charts. And at this point, he’s learning the NHL game and there’s a lot of ability there. For him, I think he’s going to get better in the sense that he’s going to get to know the players in the league. He’s going to get stronger. He’s going to understand how to play the system better.
“There’s just a lot of maturity that’s still left to come in his game. But from my perspective, there is really, really a ton of talent and ability.”
Sennecke already has shown elite skill, a concoction that includes heavy doses of relentless play and fearless behavior. It also can result in mistakes, as he has been guilty of taking bad penalties and committing turnovers when safer options were available. But those traits also have created game-changing moments.
• In overtime against Utah on Nov. 17, Sennecke froze Mammoth goalie Karel Vejmelka with a slight fake as he drove the center of the ice and then slid a pass to Olen Zellweger for a tap-in goal that gave the Ducks a 3-2 victory.
“He sees the play,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said afterward. “You’re thinking he’s got to shoot this thing, and then he makes a beautiful pass. Nice play. Incredible.”
• In the final seconds of regulation of the Dec. 9 game at Pittsburgh, Sennecke got the puck from Cutter Gauthier at center ice and stick-handled through two onrushing Penguins defenders before throwing the puck into the crease. Pittsburgh’s Erik Karlsson inadvertently gloved the puck between the legs of Penguins goalie Artūrs Šilovs. It crossed the goal line with 0.1 seconds left, improbably sending the Ducks into overtime, where they would eventually prevail in a shootout.
• As the final minute of overtime approached on Jan. 17 against Los Angeles, Sennecke hustled back as the Kings’ Kevin Fiala broke in on Anaheim goalie Ville Husso. As Fiala started to size up Husso, Sennecke lifted Fiala’s stick and, in one motion, stole the puck and sent a backhand pass to Mikael Granlund.
Granlund scored on the ensuing rush for a 2-1 victory. What might have gone less noticed is that Sennecke also rushed back into the offensive zone to present himself as a passing option for Granlund on the two-on-one counterattack.
• With two goals already in his pocket on Jan. 25, Sennecke finished off his first NHL game in Canada by taking the puck down the ice in Calgary and zipping a rising wrist shot past goalie Dustin Wolf for a hat trick and a 4-3 overtime win. It made him the third rookie in NHL history under the age of 20 to record a hat trick, including the OT winner.
“It’s just one of those games where everything kind of goes in for you,” Sennecke said. “You get them every once in a while.”
For that, Sennecke got a face full of shaving cream from teammate Lukáš Dostál while doing a postgame interview. Moments later, Sennecke vowed to another televised audience, “I’ll get him back. One way or another. I won’t tell you guys, but I’ll get him back.” But the exchange is a snapshot into the instant bond the flourishing youngster has with his teammates.
Count Jacob Trouba among the many impressed. Now in his 13th season, Trouba has come across countless young players and remembers when he was breaking into the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets. The defenseman sees in Sennecke a precocious kid who always wants to make something happen, and an ability to quickly move beyond the plays that don’t work or a rough game.
“It’s pretty rare,” Trouba said. “Even just the progress he’s made from training camp to where we are now. From zero to 10 games, 10 to 20 games and how he keeps kind of growing and learning. He’s still having fun. It’s pretty refreshing to have someone 19 years old in the room and how they act and what they do.
“He’s having a good time. But he makes an impact in the game, and he’s getting better as he’s going. Kind of learning on the fly.”
Before the Ducks opened training camp, Sennecke didn’t have any commanding performances in the preceding rookie tournament. However, Quenneville noted how Sennecke got better with each day and through his preseason games. But, the coach conceded with a chuckle, “It was easy to say that he was improving every day after those levels. So that might be part of it.”
As camp continued, it was also easy to conclude the Ducks would, at minimum, give Sennecke a nine-game taste or keep him around until the World Juniors in December. But an injury to veteran forward Ryan Strome opened a spot in Anaheim’s top nine. In his NHL debut in Seattle, Sennecke started on the second line with Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier.
Just over four minutes into the game, Sennecke scored and became the seventh Ducks teenager to score in his first NHL game and the youngest player in 10 seasons to score that quickly to begin his career.
Sennecke’s early success hasn’t surprised Roger Hunt, the longtime Oshawa Generals general manager who had Sennecke for three seasons. Hunt left a summer conversation with Verbeek convinced that Sennecke would get a real chance with the Ducks. Playing in the best league on a team with proven NHL veterans and growing stars would bring out the best in him, Hunt thought. “I see a kid that’s maturing into an NHL future star,” Hunt said. “He’s evolving.”
“He was always a sponge,” he added. “He was always very knowledgeable. So, I think just by being thrust into that environment, the results are showing. I truly believe that he’s a budding star in the NHL that we’ll be watching for years.
“Credit to Anaheim, they gave him that opportunity. He’s not a fourth-liner. He can’t play on a team’s fourth line, regardless of what league it is. But recognizing what they had with him, they gave him an opportunity to be at his best or certainly put him in a position to succeed by putting him in their top six. I truly believe in the first 50 games they’ve played in the NHL now that he certainly repaid them in spades. I suspect it’ll very much continue.”
As his goal against Calgary showed, Sennecke has a shot that can beat NHL goalies from distance. But that isn’t the only way he scores goals. He has an appetite to be around the net, absorbing punishment to make plays for himself and teammates. If the cost is taking a post-whistle glove in the face or jab to his back from an opposing player, he’ll gladly pay up.
Beckett Sennecke can make goals happen in a variety of ways. (Christopher Morris / Imagn Images)
In his first multi-goal game, on Nov. 9 against Winnipeg, Sennecke showed how he can maneuver his 6-foot-3 body to gain leverage on a defenseman down low and cash in a rebound chance. He is comfortable operating in tight areas and open spaces.
“He looks like he’s going to lose the puck and then all of a sudden, he’s sliding through,” Quenneville said. “His skill set’s different than most players. I can’t describe exactly what it is, but his elusiveness is a different level.”
Hunt said it is an attitude that’s been present since his Ottawa days.
“He was like Gumby at times,” the Generals’ GM said. “You think he’s going to get killed and he survives it. He lives around the net. He’s courageous. He’s not a fighter but he’s very courageous. He’ll take the body. He’ll go to those hard areas. He’ll do what it takes to score.”
The tools and disposition are reminiscent of a former Ducks winger who grew from a first-round draft pick into one of the best at his position in his prime: Corey Perry. That’s not a comparison made lightly. As Trouba said, “Those are big shoes to compare to. I think he’s got a long way to go before he probably deserves that comparison.”
Perry has played in more than 1,400 games, scored 459 goals and is nearing 1,000 points — along with racking up 1,529 penalty minutes. Sennecke has only taken his first step and doesn’t display Perry’s devilish side or his accidentally-on-purpose way of distracting goalies. But as Hunt said, “They do certainly have that courage and willingness to do what it takes to win. I’m sure as time goes on and Beckett gets more comfortable in the NHL, he’ll drive players nuts.”
Quenneville likes the comparison to Perry, professing an affinity for a player who was, for years, an adversarial nuisance. And the Ducks already are enjoying Sennecke’s high ceiling. It is why the coach will correct the winger when he takes an ill-advised stick foul but doesn’t plaster him to the bench for minutes on end. It is why he wants to eliminate the high-risk plays Sennecke got away with in junior hockey, but doesn’t want to stifle his willingness to try things that others won’t.
The upside is too great to suppress. The Ducks saw it before draft night. They’re now real-time beneficiaries.
“You could just see his size, his deception, his skating, his shot,” Ducks winger Troy Terry said. “You knew there’s never any doubt how good of a player he was going to be. It’s kind of surprising how fast he’s already kind of gotten (there). I think he’s just scratching the surface of the player he can be.”