Bruins Camp Report: Don’t sleep on Johnny Beecher’s chances of breaking camp with B’s; Stralman reportedly accepts PTO offer

Johnny Beecher has played all of 11 games of professional hockey in his young career. But even at this juncture, the big-bodied forward is already fully cognizant of the narratives that have been woven about his game and his ceiling as an NHL player.

For any player tabbed with the designation of a first-round pick, the pressure can oftentimes be inescapable when it comes to validating the promise and potential that they showcased during their teenage years. 

And when developmental timelines either stagnate or alter course, it can be near impossible to shake those preconceived notions about a prospect’s skill set.

For Beecher, the book has been out on him for years now when it comes to both his strengths (elite skating tool, a pro frame, a refined two-way game, and a willingness to engage physically) — and especially the flaws that presented themselves over his three years at the University of Michigan.

He may not be a top-six talent at the next level, but the Elmira, New York, native still needs to showcase a bit more of a scoring touch (19 goals in 81 games with the Wolverines) in order to justify a regular spot up with Boston.

And yet, even though Beecher is well aware of the steps he needs to take to ingratiate himself to Jim Montgomery and the Bruins’ top talent evaluators, he’s also not letting that label of a first-round pick distract him from his ultimate goal of punching a ticket to the NHL ranks.

“I just want to go to the rink every day and give it my best,” Beecher said. “I think a lot of guys can be caught up — especially nowadays with social media and outside reviews and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, I just really don't want anything to get under my skin. 

“I know what I'm capable of and the people that I'm closest with, they support me and they know what I can do as well. So like I said, just kind of keeping to myself and I'm not really letting outside distractions get to me. …  I'm only 21 years old — I'm not at the peak of my career yet, but (I did) a lot of hard work over the last six months. And I'm excited to kind of show everybody what I got now.”

Given both his dearth of steady reps up in the pro ranks (those 11 games in Providence served as his lone crash course last spring), and the need to further draw more tangible offense out of his repertoire, the rational take is that Beecher will begin the 2022-23 campaign down in Providence and build a case for NHL minutes if he showcases improvement against AHL competition.

Such a strategy would be further reinforced by the presence of established veterans like Nick Foligno and Tomas Nosek on the depth chart, primed to earn a majority of those reps in October and November.

But based on the comments from Boston’s top brass — coupled with Beecher’s place in the B’s lineup configuration through the first few days of training camp — are we perhaps downplaying Beecher’s odds of making a legitimate push for an NHL role in the coming weeks?

It’s often a perilous venture when it comes to reading all that much into lines over the first few days of camp (Fabian Lysell skating with Patrice Bergeron, for example), but Beecher has primarily been skating with some NHL regulars in Foligno and Jake DeBrusk this week — while Nosek (the presumptive 4C) has been taking reps with Joseph Abate and Vinni Lettieri. 

Again, it’s early in camp, but the first signs that Chris Wagner wasn’t going to be earning NHL reps last fall came when the fourth-line stalwart was primarily stuck skating with AHL regulars during that preseason.

And even though Beecher will need to put forth more scoring pop to justify any talk of him pushing back veterans on the depth chart, the 21-year-old forward has already impressed Montgomery with his 200-foot game, especially when it comes to his knack for winning draws. 

"I thought he was really good today,” Montgomery said of Beecher. “His speed looks really good. I liked the way he attacked the middle of the ice and kicked pucks out and drove to hard ice. It was a really good first day. … "I think any time a player can add something to their repertoire, like winning face offs, like being good at getting pucks out on walls, blocking shots, attacking people and making plays. Like that's how you buy minutes and that's how you're able to add layers to your game, which makes you invaluable.”

Earlier this summer, Beecher did acknowledge that his overall game might translate better to the pros when compared what he put forth in college, especially when it comes to the added speed and physicality that presents itself on just about every shift. 

But the early returns have also been positive when it comes to his offensive game since leaving college — be it the five points (three goals, two assists) he scored in those 11 AHL games or the three goals in three games up at the 2022 Prospects Challenge up in Buffalo.

Sure, he may not be going bar down with a wrister against the likes of Andrei Vasilevskiy, but that willingness to scrap down in Grade-A ice and fish for loose pucks and rebounds could make him a player that can manufacture some offense further down the lineup. 

"The rhetoric has been a little unfair on Johnny, to be perfectly honest with you,” Don Sweeney said of Beecher, adding: “We've always felt that there's going to be a transition period for him. But the ceiling itself and the skating and the size — we don't know, ideally, whether or not he's going to be a prolific scorer in the National Hockey League. … From a ceiling standpoint, we've been encouraged about John's physical attributes are. 

“At times, he might have wanted more opportunity at Michigan — be in power play situations, but they had a pretty special group of guys that were prolific in some of those areas. So nothing against the coaching staff, whoever made those decisions. And maybe it's on Johnny, that he didn't necessarily score at the rates that they would have compared him to other guys. So ideally, yeah, we want to see what the ceiling is. And I think this is just the beginning of that. You saw a little glimpse of that last year at Providence, and he started to work on some areas that we wanted to improve upon. And now we're going to put him against a much higher level of skill in defending against and see whether or not those things continue to translate as we saw at the prospect level.”

It’s a comparison I’ve tossed out multiple times when it comes to a player like Beecher, but he does remind me of a fourth-line stalwart like Sean Kuraly — a fast-skating pivot who can both throw his weight around and be a one-man cycle when he’s on his game. Perhaps that’s not what you’re looking for in a first-round pick, but I also think most Bruins fans would concur that a player like Kuraly offered immense value to the B’s when he was playing to his capabilities on the fourth line. 

Beecher still has some room to grow now that he’s gone pro, but it sure seems like the Bruins believe that the 2019 first-round pick already has a skillset that could warrant a sustained look up in the NHL. A goal or two during preseason action would certainly help Beecher build his case. 

CAMP REPORT  

BRUINS LINES 

GROUP A

Forwards

Zacha-Bergeron-Lysell
Hall-Studnicka-McLaughlin
Greer-Coyle-Steen
Frederic-Merkulov-Steen
Tralmarks-Poitras-Brazeau

Defense (Multiple blueliners shifted across various pairings, so not a whole lot of consistency here):

Carlo
Lindholm
Ahcan
Forbort
Zboril
Wolff
Wissmann
Berglund
Edward

Goalies:

Swayman
Bussi
Kinkaid 

GROUP B 

Lauko-Krejci-Pastrnak
Foligno-Beecher-DeBrusk
Abate-Nosek-Litteri
Hall-Asselin-Voyer
Greenway-Toporowski-Wagner

Defense:

Reilly
Clifton
Mast
Brunet
Wilson
Callahan
Carrick
Renouf
Diddier

Goalies: 

Ullmark
Keyser
Brassard

TALKING POINTS

Bruins reportedly bringing in Anton Stralman on PTO deal

Earlier this week, Sweeney acknowledged that the Bruins had a pending PTO (professional tryout) contract on the table, but were still awaiting word from the player. 

But now, it appears as though the Bruins have their answer - as veteran defenseman Anton Stralman will reportedly accept a PTO deal with Boston to join camp in the coming days. 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson was the first to report the news of Stralman as Boston’s PTO target.  

The 36-year-old Stralman’s inability to secure a contract this off-season was rather puzzling, considering that he logged significant minutes on (an admittedly dreadful) Arizona Coyotes blue line last year.

Last season, the right-shot D appeared in 74 games for the ‘Yotes, recording 23 points and averaging 21:20 of ice time per game. 

Stralman, who has also appeared in 113 Stanley Cup Playoff games during his 15-year career, could be steady insurance on Boston’s blue line — although some of his hesitancy to accept the PTO might be due to the hard choices that Montgomery and his staff will need to make once Charlie McAvoy is cleared to return.

Even though a veteran like Stralman could conceivably settle into a spot on Boston’s third D pairing, he could face some stiff competition from younger players like Connor Clifton, Jakub Zboril and Connor Carrick. 

Early standouts for Bruins

Jim Montgomery didn’t exactly toss out a revelation when it came to some of the early standouts through two days of on-ice work at training camp. 

"I knew David Pastrnak was good. I didn't know he was this good,” Montgomery said. “When you get to work with people, it's unreal. Like he makes plays out of nothing. Like it's subtle plays, but he's fun to watch out there.”

Pastrnak showcasing his offensive skillset to his new bench boss isn’t much of a surprise, but Montgomery did give credit to more of an understated lineup regular as well. 

“It's true about a lot of people, but I think Derek Forbort has really stood out to me,” Montgomery said. “He looks quick. He's ending plays. He understands some of the stuff we've already introduced, you see him implementing it. So I guess those are the two that jump out right away.”

Montgomery isn’t drastically augmenting Boston’s zone defense, nor is Forbort the type of player who should necessarily be altering his style when it comes to injecting more offense out of the B’s blue line. But a stay-at-home, PK anchor like Forbort can and should offer value for the Bruins when it comes to some of the grunt work required further down the B’s defensive depth chart. 

Lysell trying to settle in 

After completing his first full season in North America, the stakes are raised for Fabian Lysell entering his second Bruins training camp, especially with consistent NHL reps potentially within reach. 

But when compared to last fall, the 19-year-old Lysell feels much more at ease in his new surroundings — focused more on his individual game, as opposed to some of the outside distractions that come when an exciting new prospect arrives on the scene.  

“Last year was kind of a new experience and all that,” Lysell said. “And now this year, I'm looking forward to, if I get the chance to play, I'm definitely going to try to contribute in the areas that I feel like they can. I'm going to be prepared for it if that opportunity comes."

Even though it remains to be seen just how long Lysell will remain on a line with a player of Bergeron’s caliber, the B’s top forward prospect is focused on making the most of however long he can remain in such a sought-after spot in Boston’s lineup. 

“He's one of the best players in the world,” Lysell said of Bergeron. “It's just the overall game and all the small details — how good he is with the stick and communicating. If there's something coming up, he will talk about it right away and you understand really quickly what he means and you can kind of change up the routes you're going right away.  …. It's really helpful. 

“Just to just see how he works. As I said, all the details, and I'm just trying to take as much as possible, but still try to focus on my game and use my strengths so that I can contribute out there. So, yeah, I think it's been going well.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Mike Callahan continues to take a beating out there on the ice. After getting toppled on Thursday (and taking Jakub Lauko with him), Callahan was trucked by Chris Wagner during a drill on Friday, but he appeared to be alright. Some Walpole on Franklin crime right there. 

Bit of a scary sight when both Wagner and Beecher collided near center ice, but both forwards seemed no worse for wear. 

To close out Group B’s session, Jake DeBrusk went in for a shootout attempt but was denied at the crease — prompting Montgomery to send the whole skating corps on four full-speed laps around the ice. Lysell also didn’t have much luck during his shootout attempt to end Group A’s session, with Jeremy Swayman emphatically celebrating as Boston’s skaters once again had to take multiple laps around the frozen sheet. 

UP NEXT

Training camp continues on Saturday, with practice set to get underway at 10 a.m. The Bruins will open their preseason slate later that night when the club heads to Philadelphia for a matchup against the Flyers. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.