The team with the worst record in the NHL – and thus first in line on the waiver wire – claimed now former Bruins’ center/wing John Beecher off waivers on Tuesday.
And fortunately for Beecher, he was indeed claimed. If he passed and had been assigned to Providence, it didn’t sound like he would have been coming back to Boston any time soon. The 2019 first-round pick (30th overall) did not leave Boston with the most glowing of recommendations.
Asked what the main reasons were for waiver designation, coach Marco Sturm didn’t really hold back.
“This is something we touched on for a while, (before) my time, that’s for sure. And for me as a new coach, I gave him a new opportunity and, quite frankly, I thought he’d be a little better, a little more effective. I thought he wasn’t and, at some point, we have to make a decision on how to move forward,” said Sturm on Tuesday before Beecher clearer.
Sturm was asked if consistency was the main issue with Beecher.
“Yeah, consistency, effort,” said Sturm. “I know it’s not easy being in and out of the lineup but I have guys just waiting for this moment. At the end of the day, it’s always up to the player. I wanted to (give him) a new voice, a fresh set of eyes. I really didn’t care about his past. So it was up to him. That’s how I see it. Not just with him but any other player. For some reason, it just didn’t work out.”
In 136 games, the 24-year-old Beecher had 11-11-22 totals. He was signed last summer to a one-year show-me contract worth $900,000 per season. He was on the bubble at the end of an up-and-down training camp, but his size, speed, ability to kill penalties and faceoff acumen tipped the scales in his favor and he was kept on the roster.
While it was ultimately GM Don Sweeney’s decision to put his former first-rounder on waivers, Sturm made his feelings pretty clear. The B’s needed another roster spot for a defenseman to be called up with the injured Charlie McAvoy (there was no definitive update yet) unavailable for at least this four-game road trip that starts on Wednesday in Anaheim, and Beecher was the odd man out. Michael Callahan was recalled on Tuesday.
It is debatable whether rough-and-tumble forward Jeffrey Viel would have made it through waivers. He’s not a center, nor a penalty killer. But the B’s essentially doubled down on identity, choosing the straight-line, hard-nosed wing over the a player who has in theory more tools but hasn’t been able to bring it every night….
Elias Lindholm traveled with the B’s to the West Coast for a trip that will see them play Anaheim (Wednesday), Los Angeles (Friday), San Jose (Sunday) and finishing up against the Islanders on Long Island on Thanksgiving Eve. There is a hope that he’ll play on the trip but that is still up in the air. A knee injury that knocked him out of the lineup on October 27.
Even if Lindholm does make it back, the B’s will still be without Casey Mittelstadt (lower body, hasn’t skated yet) and Viktor Arvidsson (lower body), as well as McAvoy (mouth).
But Sturm is not a woe-is-me kind of guy.
“It’s a good test. We had a good meeting I thought this morning with the guys. Every team goes through this. Carolina went through it and now we are,” said Sturm. “It’s not easy but also I think it’s a good chance to show what this team’s all about, right? I’m not saying wins and losses, I look at it as the character in our room, the details we have to have, the structure we have to have. Some guys now get opportunities that were waiting for a long time. Now it’s their chance. To go through stretches like this, you have to come together as a team and also when we go on West Coast like this, you have to survive stretches like that and come out stronger.”
Second line center Pavel Zacha has now lost both his wings in Arvidsson and Mittelstadt to injury and in his place he’s gotten two AHL veterans in Alex Steeves and Matej Blumel. Steeves has acquitted himself pretty well but Blumel, in his first game on Monday in the 3-1 loss to Carolina, struggled.
Sturm said the onus is on Zacha to better shepherd the less-experienced wings.
“He’s got to help them. And one the reasons is, a little bit, we got him a Czech guy (Blumel), too,” said Sturm with a smile. “I know it’s funny but I think he likes him and he will take care of him. But he needs to be the main guy. I thought (Monday) he wasn’t, so there was not much help from Pav in the middle. But I think in general, they should be better than (Monday) night.”
Zacha got the message.
“I need to step up my game and help the team more than I did last game. That’s something I have to focus on, to be just a little bit better,” said Zacha….
Marat Khusnutdinov passed up a glorious scoring opportunity to dish to Morgan Geekie late in the first period on Monday and the chance went by the wayside. As good as Khusnutdinov has been, it’s not the first time he’s been too deferential. Sturm thinks he can grow out of that.
“I think anyone who plays with David looks for passing first. I think that’s what it is,” said Sturm. “I think there is more selfishness in him. I really believe so. But again, he’s playing with Morgan and David. What’s normal sometimes is that he’s looking for the pass first than keeping pucks and shooting pucks. We try to tell him and we think he understands and knows. And on the other side, he doesn’t want to piss David off, too, if he doesn’t get him the puck.”
