2026 Canadiens Top 25 Under 25: #15 Owen Beck

Introduction

Owen Beck is not a new prospect, and some would even say he is a known commodity at this point. He was viewed as a promising young centre with a great chance of playing in the NHL when he was drafted in 2022. Now four years later, we have additional information from multiple seasons in the AHL and 27 games in the NHL over the past two years to confirm that initial projection. He was able to score his first goal with the Canadiens last year — after having a couple of bids denied by reviews — in his longest audition with the big team in his career to date.

At 22 years old, Beck is entering an important stage of his development. In 2024-25, he produced offence for the Laval Rocket, demonstrated excellent skating and defensive awareness, and appeared to be on a relatively straightforward path toward becoming an NHL centre. The 2025-26 season complicated that projection. His offensive production declined to 33 points in 58 AHL games, while his opportunities with Montreal remained limited, and he’s only produced two points when he has gotten that NHL chance. That doesn’t mean Beck’s prospect stock has collapsed, but it changed the general picture.

Voting

Five of the nine panellists had him at 16th. I personally had him at 15, and I believe this ranking is a fair assessment of where his play slots him. He hasn’t improved enough to warrant a jump, and actually got passed by a couple of players who moved up to spots vacated by the graduates, but has too many NHL tools to not be viewed as an NHLer down the line.

He has one of the smallest ranges in the voting, and that is clearly shown in the community sample as well, with two-thirds of his votes falling from 12th to 15th.

Top 25 Under 25 History

A strong draft-plus-one season in the OHL bumped him up in the order in 2023, but he has settled to a place at 15th the past two years.

History of #15

Strengths

Beck’s most important skill is his understanding of the game; how to play with and without the puck. He processes situations quickly and generally knows where he needs to be before the puck arrives. This is particularly evident defensively. When he is playing centre, he has a strong grasp of defensive positioning. He closes off the passing lanes, knows his support responsibilities and the pressure points, and recognizes the transition opportunities that come up during the play.

His combination of speed and anticipation allows him to close quickly on a forecheck while maintaining enough control to react to the next play. He doesn’t simply chase the puck, but anticipates where it is going. This remains the foundation of his NHL projection. He could be easily described as an intelligent two-way centre whose responsible game gives him a third-line projection.

I am similarly impressed by his intensity and reliability, seeing that he has become one of Laval’s most trusted forwards whom the team frequently relies on for important faceoffs. That matters because centre is one of the most difficult positions to learn at the NHL level, and he seems to understand all the fundamentals of the position.

After struggling to carry his faceoff ability into his first AHL season, he rebounded significantly in 2025-26. He won approximately 57% of his draws, making him one of Laval’s trusted options when an important faceoff needed to be won. A fourth-line centre who wins faceoffs, kills penalties, defends effectively, and can skate becomes considerably more valuable than a generic fourth-line player who is only deployed to provide pressure in five-on-five minutes. It gives a coach a reason to put him on the ice in specific situations.

Weaknesses

Beck simply hasn’t scored enough, which is the biggest reason for the change in his projection. The decline from 44 points in 64 games to 33 points in 58 games isn’t catastrophic, but it is concerning for a player whose offensive upside was supposed to separate him from a pure defensive centre.

Just two NHL points may signal some difficulty driving offence against top-level competition. His finishing abilities have never been his calling card, but the fact that his production isn’t going up in the AHL could be a red flag. This was already identified as a weakness during his first AHL season.

Does he have enough offensive ability to be more than a forechecking fourth-liner at the highest level? There is a need for him to develop a more consistent playmaking game built around deception and to use his shot more frequently. He can facilitate and often makes the right play, but can he make the more skilled, risky one to break a defensive formation for a scoring chance?

Projection

After two full AHL seasons and with 28 NHL games under his belt, his floor is much easier to identify than his ceiling. He’s a centre who can be trusted, and should at minimum be able to hold a fourth-line role. But given Montreal’s organizational depth, simply being a responsible centre may not be enough. If he can’t provide enough offence, other players will take a role he could have played, and he’s already been overtaken by Oliver Kapanen in this project and the organization for that reason.

There used to be talk about a potential middle-six projection, but this seems less likely. That’s why his 2026 ranking is more conservative. A defensive fourth-line centre, or winger, is still valuable, but less so than one who shows the potential to move up with more offensive players when needed.

He doesn’t need to reinvent himself, he just needs to show a bit more offence. That’s a much more manageable developmental problem than trying to teach a naturally gifted offensive player how to defend, and should be the focus for him and his coaches in 2026-27.