With David Krejci leaving Boston for the Czech Republic, there will be even more attention on what the Bruins' future looks like at the center position.
Fans are already at least a little bit familiar with Jack Studnicka and Trent Frederic, as both have seen playing time at the NHL level. They may be a little less familiar with Johnny Beecher, the team's first-round pick in 2019.
Beecher offers some things to be excited about -- namely his excellent skating and 6-foot-3 frame -- but he's also at a bit of a crossroads in his development, with a need for some real progress this year after a tough 2020-21 season.
This past year wasn't quite a lost one for Beecher, but it was certainly a turbulent, frustrating one. Right from the start, things started going wrong. Last August, his arm caught on one of his University of Michigan teammates during a battle drill, resulting in a shoulder subluxation. "Just kind of a freak accident," Beecher called it Monday.
Beecher played through the shoulder injury as long as he could, but it kept getting worse throughout the season and he eventually needed season-ending labrum surgery in February. Before then, there was also a positive COVID-19 test in December that cost him a shot at making the U.S. World Junior team.
When it was all said and done, Beecher had played 16 games and registered eight points (4 goals, 4 assists). He didn't even get to cheer on his Michigan teammates in the NCAA tournament -- the Wolverines had to withdraw due to a COVID outbreak days before the opening round.
There's always a hope and expectation that a first-round pick in college hockey is going to make a pretty big jump from his freshman to sophomore season. Beecher didn't do that, and actually scored at a slightly lower points-per-game pace than he did as a freshman. Beecher himself isn't using the injury as an excuse for that, but it's safe to say it was a factor.
Now Beecher is ready to turn the page. He's in Boston for the Bruins' development camp at Warrior Ice Arena this week, skating in a red no-contact jersey. He expects to be cleared for full contact in the next couple weeks and should be ready for the start of Michigan's season in early October.
And what a season it should be for Michigan. The Wolverines incredibly had four of the first five picks in this summer's NHL draft, with sophomores Owen Power, Matty Beniers and Kent Johnson going first, second and fifth, respectively, and freshman Luke Hughes going fourth. Another incoming freshman, Mackie Samoskevich, went 24th overall. It was the first time four college hockey players went in the top five -- never mind four from the same school -- and the first time any school had five players taken in the first round.
While it's not a total lock just yet, Power, Beniers and Johnson are all expected to stay in Ann Arbor for another season, making Michigan the national championship favorites and one of the most exciting teams to follow in college hockey history.
It's unclear exactly where Beecher will slot in among all that talent, but as a junior, he should be one of the team's leaders and play an important role, whether it's in the top six on a line with a couple blue-chippers or as the third-line center in more of a shutdown spot.
"It's an exciting year coming up for sure," Beecher said. "We have so much skill on the front end and we have a lot of depth with our D. I'm really looking forward to it. Coming back as a junior… I don't know how it's happened, but the time's flying by. I want to be a huge leader on this team, especially for the younger guys who are just getting on campus and trying to get their footing. That's my role on the team. I think it'll just kind of play out throughout the year. Hopefully be a shutdown role, playing top minutes, PK, PP, and just do whatever I can to help the team win."
The Bruins also like the idea of Beecher going back to Michigan and playing on a loaded team that will have to deal with high expectations and being in the rest of college hockey's crosshairs.
"I think his team next year is gonna have a bit of a target on its back," said Bruins director of player development Jamie Langenbrunner. "It'll be a great opportunity for him to play under that scrutiny, that pressure of a team that should contend for a national title. He'll be a big part of that, and we'll see where we go from there."
Where things go from there is, of course, up to Beecher as much as anyone. Beecher has yet to really show enough offense to think he'll be a first- or second-line center in the NHL, and prospects expert Chris Peters said on The Skate Podcast a couple weeks ago that he sees his ceiling being more of a "good depth player" in the NHL. But Beecher is still just 20, and a big junior season could change some projections.
The Bruins, for their part, are keeping open minds regarding Beecher's future while acknowledging there is work to do.
"I think time will tell with him still," Langenbrunner said when asked what kind of NHLer Beecher projects to be. "His skating is obviously high-end. We were actually laughing about it out there today. It looks like he's not skating at times, but when you're standing there, he's going really, really fast. I think for him, whether he's going to end up as a second-line guy or a third-line guy or a fourth-line guy will depend on how quickly he gets those details in and his consistency is there night-in, night-out.
"That's gonna make a coach happy and give him opportunity. His skating and his size are always gonna be there, and he's learning all those pro habits, and we're going to continue to work with him. It's going to take a little bit of time and it'll depend on Johnny and how he's bought into that. If I knew the answer to your question, it would make life a lot easier, but we're going to continue to work with him and get him to the highest point we can and make him as good a player as he can be."
