Bruins prospects: John Beecher off to promising start in third NCAA season

Boston's 2019 first-rounder, John Beecher, is off to promising start in third NCAA season at Michigan. (Scott W. Grau/Getty Images)

It has been a long, frustrating road for University of Michigan junior John Beecher.

The Elmira, N.Y. native and 30th overall selection of the Boston Bruins in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft is coming off a lost sophomore year in 2020-21. He got injured during a practice and was lost for the rest of the pandemic-impacted schedule after shoulder surgery.

He returned to the ice in time for Boston’s prospects development camp in August, and while he showed off his sublime skating wheels as if he hadn’t missed a shift since the previous Feb., his ability to handle and shoot pucks was clearly hampered.

Still, the power center and last of a record eight first-round selections off of the U.S. National Team Development Program’s prized 2001 birth year, was excited for the opportunity to return to action with his high-powered Wolverines teammates.