Introduction
In his fourth year in the Top 25 Under 25, Owen Beck has now finished a season of professional hockey, spending the entirety of 2024-25 with the Laval Rocket. He played in 64 of the Rocket’s 72 games this season and managed 44 points while playing frequent top-six minutes. A 15-goal rookie season in the AHL certainly can’t be considered a failure, but his performance left fans wanting a little more.
Many have been pencilling Beck in as the Canadiens’ future third-line centre, and many expected him to step into the AHL and dominate, hoping that he would be ready for the NHL this season. He entered the AHL and found steady footing. It was clear that he was good enough to be in the league, but he didn’t command his shifts by any stretch.
Throughout the season, Beck showcased some of the tools that led people to project him as an NHLer. His skating was a step above the rest, and his defensive poise and vision were both excellent, but he struggled in other areas. After being the best faceoff-taker in the OHL, he struggled in the circle in the AHL, losing his centre spot to Florian Xhekaj (among others) by the end of the season. Beck’s prowess in the faceoff dot was one of the reasons he was slated as a future penalty-killing NHL centre, but in the AHL last season he wasn’t an asset in that area.
He also struggled with finishing chances, something that became glaringly obvious in the playoffs, where he frequently created grade-A scoring chances but only managed two goals through 13 playoff games.
Voting
There was an eight-point swing among the votes, which is the lowest we see outside the top 10. However, in 2024 his lowest placement was 16th, and five panellists have him lower than that this year.
The distribution of community votes is fairly standard, though with a bit of a plateau from 13th to 18th, similar to what we saw from the individual members of the panel.
Top 25 Under 25 History
This is Beck’s lowest placement on the list since his debut at #14 after being drafted in 2022. His three-point drop from last season can be attributed to new arrivals and a slightly lacklustre season.
History of #15
Year #15
2025 Owen Beck
2024 Jayden Struble
2023 Sean Farrell
2022 Riley Kidney
2021 Logan Mailloux
2020 Jayden Struble
2019 Jake Evans
2018 Cale Fleury
2017 Will Bitten
2016 Jacob de la Rose
2015 Devante Smith-Pelly
2014 Tim Bozon
2013 Magnus Nygren
2012 Ryan White
2011 Andreas Engqvist
2010 Mathieu Carle
Strengths
Beck possesses a multitude of strengths as a prospect. He is fast, feisty, and smart, a highly effective forechecker when playing the wing and a general when in the defensive zone as a centreman. His footspeed shone in the AHL last season, where he was one of the most mobile players on the ice. His straight-line speed is where he creates a significant percentage of his chances, making him an effective rush player when given the opportunity to utilize his hands and his playmaking.
He thinks the game very quickly, as evidenced by his playmaking and defensive play through the neutral zone. When off the puck, he lives in passing lanes, ready to pick off any lazy offerings. His edgework is above average, and when combined with his ability to predict skating paths, he can be a nightmare for a team breaking out of its own zone. He creates an enormous number of turnovers at the opposing blue line using both his footspeed and his IQ.
While he is an effective rush forward, he creates a lot of his chances playing the cycle in the offensive zone. He made it clear this season that his defensive vision translates to the offensive zone as well. He finished third on the club in assists and was an asset on the power play all season long.
Weaknesses
His playmaking is certainly more of an asset than his shot. His biggest problem this season was his inability to finish quality chances. I think he probably led Laval in high-quality scoring chances through the playoffs and left with almost nothing to show for it. It seems that he creates a dangerous opportunity on nearly every shift, and it never results in a goal. There are a dozen possible reasons for this, and I’m not going to play armchair coach and speculate on which one it is, but the outcome remains the same.
As much as his offensive finish needs more polish, I don’t think many fans had Beck pegged as an offensive catalyst anyway. Most see a defensive centre when they look at him. That’s what makes his struggles in the circle so concerning. The AHL doesn’t officially track faceoff stats, but Beck’s effectiveness was poor enough that he didn’t see the dot for the final 16 games of the season.
Projection
Beck has been projected as a future third-line centre for years, and I understand why. The skill, intelligence, and poise combine to create a player with the potential to be extremely effective. The problem with projecting him is determining the role he can play. A scrappy, two-way centre with offensive upside? Absolutely. But not if he doesn’t improve in the circle or find his scoring touch. On a championship-winning team, you expect your third-line centre to put up at least 15 goals and 40 points. I don’t know if Beck has shown enough upside to accomplish that in the NHL, at least not for a couple of years.
At 6’0, 198 pounds, he has the size required to play a tougher defensive role, and that’s what he needs to focus on. He can’t expect to be a top-six forward on the Canadiens in the future; he needs to learn to commit to playing a role if he’s going to be an NHL player. If he can focus on the defensive side of the game and regain his acumen at the dot, he could be an extremely effective fourth-line centre.
Beck’s entry-level deal is up at the end of this season. His performance in Laval will be crucial for his next contract. At the end of 2025-26, we could either see Beck as a lock for the Canadiens going forward, or as a high-end AHL player, and his next contract will reflect that.