“I didn’t really care about his past, but it was up to him. So that’s how I see it.”
Johnny Beecher played in over 130 games with the Bruins. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
November 18, 2025 | 2:41 PM
2 minutes to read
The Bruins are officially moving on from one of their former first-round picks in forward Johnny Beecher.
Beecher, 24, was claimed off waivers by the Calgary Flames on Tuesday afternoon, with the young forward looking for a fresh start out west after struggling to find traction in Marco Sturm’s lineup.
The Elmira, New York, native was initially exposed to waivers on Monday afternoon, just hours after a banged-up Bruins roster called up forwards Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte from Providence.
Boston noted in its media release that the team intended on assigning Beecher to the P-Bruins, but the fleet-footed fourth liner was scooped up by Calgary before clearing waivers.
A first-round pick by Boston (No. 30 overall) in 2019, Beecher appeared in 136 games with the Bruins over the span of three seasons — scoring 11 goals and 11 assists over that stretch.
An elite skater with a strong 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame, Beecher’s blend of speed and size made him an appealing addition to Boston’s bottom-six corps as a potential matchup nightmare on a checking unit — especially given his solid faceoff numbers (career 53 percent).
But Beecher’s offensive deficiencies limited his ceiling, with the University of Michigan product scoring just one goal over his final 73 games during the 2024-25 season.
Beecher was brought back on a one-year, $900,000 deal this summer, but was often on the outside looking in at Sturm’s lineup — appearing in six of a total 20 games while scoring just one goal.
Speaking on Tuesday, Sturm was candid about the shortcomings he saw from Beecher over the first six weeks of the 2025-26 season.
“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, and I thought he wasn’t,” Sturm said. “And at some point we have to make a decision on how to move forward, and I think that’s where we are at.”
With Beecher out of the equation, the Bruins will move forward with players like Sean Kuraly, Mikey Eyssimont, Jeffrey Viel, Riley Tufte, Mark Kastelic, and others all in the mix for regular roles in the bottom-six grouping.
“Consistency, effort,” Strum said when asked of Beecher’s shortcomings this season. “I know it’s not easy being out of lineup, in and out of our lineup. But I have guys just waiting for this moment. End of the day — it’s always up to the player, right? He had a new voice. He had a new fresh [set] of eyes.
“I didn’t really care about his past, but it was up to him. So that’s how I see it. Not just with him, but any player. And, for some reason, it just didn’t work out as of right now.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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