Montreal Canadiens: Three Most Pleasant Surprises From Habs Training Camp

Owen Beck

Owen Beck was a second round pick last season so it is not like we expected him to be awful. But Owen Beck was a second round pick just last summer, so we didn’t really expect him to stand out in training camp.

However, that is exactly what he did. With most eyes fixated on either first overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky or first round pick Filip Mesar, it was Beck who was really turning heads in the rookie camp, and he continued that strong play into the early part of preseason.

An 18 year old centre who scored at a decent rate last season for the Mississauga Steelheads (51points in 68 games) Beck showed off a tremendous two-way game. His offensive skill is there, but it doesn’t stand out in the way his positioning, intelligence and defensive play do.

He was certainly an unknown commodity coming into training camp, but Beck started to get some attention as a possible opening night roster candidate. He signed an entry-level contract that was well deserved and was eventually sent back to the OHL for one more season.

Before being shipped back to Junior, Beck put his name on the radar as a potential middle-six, two-way centre for many years to come.