Beck showing off versatility, dependability ahead of 2022 NHL Draft

The 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held July 7-8 at Bell Centre in Montreal. The first round will be July 7 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and rounds 2-7 are July 8 (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Today, a look at center Owen Beck of Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League. NHL.com's full draft coverage can be found here.

Owen Beck
arrived for training camp with Mississauga of the Ontario Hockey League unsure what his role would be heading into this season.
It didn't take long for coaches to recognize his all-around skills and dependability, and the 18-year-old center received ice time in almost every situation.
"Coming off the COVID year, I had no idea what to expect in terms of where I was going to fit in the lineup," Beck said. "I just got off to a good start and our coach just kind of gained trust in me over the season."
Beck didn't play last season after the OHL canceled its season because of concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
Missing what would have been his first season in the league could have hindered Beck's development. Instead, coach/general manager James Richmond saw Beck was further along than anyone realized.
"We saw him play in training camp against guys that were his age and one year older," Richmond said. "I won't say he dominated but he was really solid and a kid that was all ears."
Beck (5-foot-11, 187 pounds) was third on Mississauga with 51 points (21 goals, 30 assists) in 68 games. He also won 60.6 percent of his face-offs, second among OHL players (minimum 450 face-offs). He's No. 10 on
NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of top North American skaters
for the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft.

"He's a guy that really stepped in immediately and filled a role for their team and just consistently played the same way night in and night out," Joey Tenute of Central Scouting said. "He's a guy that of the whole 2004 [birth year] group, he's been one of the most consistent guys in terms of the game that he plays night in, night out. … Owen is of the guys that really carried the load for their team. He's a guy that the coach relied on in all situations, power play, penalty kill. He's one of the top face-off guys in the league.
"He's playing against top lines, and not only is he making it hard on other teams' top guys but also pushing back against them and becoming an offensive threat as well."
Beck said he tries to pattern his game after Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat, and Richmond sees that as an apt comparison.
"That's the guy that I compare him to the most, and NHL guys are starting to see it," Richmond said. "Bo Horvat, within his first couple years in the [OHL] didn't throw up 80, 90 points. Owen Beck in his first year had over 50 points, which is pretty darn good. I see him offensively maturing into a stronger player; defensively, he's learned a lot."
Though Richmond said he knew right from the start of this season Beck was capable of handling a big workload, Beck said it took him some time to get used to everything thrown at him after missing the previous season.
But early success led to more confidence, and that extra confidence led to even more success. It also helped that Mississauga (37-23-2-6) had a better season than predicted and finished fourth in the OHL Eastern Conference.
"We have a saying, team success equals individual success," Beck said.
His success also has come off the ice. Beck won the Bobby Smith Trophy as the top scholastic player in the OHL, with a school average above 93.0 percent in his grade 12 studies at Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga. Among his classes were advanced functions, university chemistry, university biology, kinesiology and calculus.
Beck said there is a correlation between his proficiency in the classroom and on the ice.

"Just trying to be organized and having that dedication to everything I do, whether it be school, whether it be hockey," he said. "I think those characteristics kind of translate from off the ice to on the ice as well."
As far as learning where he needs to be better on the ice, Beck said he'd like to have a more consistent level of physicality. Richmond said he wants to see Beck's hands and decision making speed up.
"When he gets on a puck, we want him to be able to move that puck quicker, whether it's for a shot or a quick pass," Richmond said. "We want to see him understand when and how to distribute the puck and that's a big thing. That's a kind of progression you get when you get to the pros, but we want to work on that now with him.
"The distribution of the puck and the quick hands are the two biggest things. He's going to continue to get stronger, he's going to get faster as he gets stronger, things are going to be a bit easier for him. But it's faster hands and puck distribution."
And he said he has no doubt Beck will apply those lessons moving forward.
"He wants to be better," Richmond said. "He wants to learn. In the classroom he wants to learn and in the hockey rink he wants to learn. You can't ask for much more than that."
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