MONTREAL \u2014 Owen Beck\u2019s call-up to the Montreal Canadiens last season, at least the very end of it, has a lot of zeros on it.<\/p>\n
Over his last three games with the Canadiens, culminating with the game immediately following the March trade deadline in Calgary, Beck had zero goals, zero assists, zero shots on goal and one shot attempt.<\/p>\n
Before that game at the Calgary Flames, not knowing it would be his last for the Canadiens that season, Beck was asked what he needed to do to solidify his spot in the NHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think just being consistent and being able to be relied upon,\u201d he said that day. \u201cIt\u2019s a talented league, so playing any kind of minutes is a big responsibility. So, just being able to be relied upon, being consistent. Obviously, would love to generate some more offensive-zone time, some more chances. Just looking to overall adjust to this league going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nowhere in that answer do you find the words \u201cphysical\u201d or \u201cdirect,\u201d two words Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis often uses to describe how Beck plays when he is at his best, and two words Beck himself now uses to describe how he needs to play to solidify his spot in the NHL.<\/p>\n
That pregame media availability in Calgary was on March 8, and less than seven months later, Beck\u2019s concept of what his NHL identity will be has vastly changed. Those words, \u201cphysicality\u201d and \u201cdirect,\u201d are words he lives by now, and his experience provides a window into how the Canadiens approach player development and how St. Louis is part and parcel to that approach.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens flew to Vancouver after that Calgary game, and upon arrival, Beck was sent back to the Laval Rocket, replaced by Joshua Roy, a player he is competing with to earn a spot with the Canadiens in training camp. Before Beck left Vancouver, he had a long conversation with St. Louis that impacted him in a profound way<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was a conversation about details, about being direct, about being physical and about not worrying about creating offensive-zone time or scoring chances.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just trying to come in and play my game when I had those games last year,\u201d Beck said after scoring the lone goal in the Canadiens\u2019 2-1 shootout win in their preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. \u201cObviously, as a first-year pro, I was still trying to figure out who I was going to be. The team was making a playoff push, so there were some pretty high stakes. So, maybe there was a little bit of nerves there.<\/p>\n \u201cBut kind of having that open dialogue conversation with Marty was definitely helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n That conversation seems to be an important part of the Canadiens\u2019 rebuild process, a process that is entering a phase where those conversations will be increasingly important as the team\u2019s deep well of prospects attempts to take that final step into the NHL. Beck is not alone in that reality; several players are going through the same thing, which is one metric by which a rebuild can be judged. How many of the prospects who are the fruit of accumulating draft picks by liquidating veteran NHL players can you convert into actual NHLers? That is the whole point of a rebuild.<\/p>\n That meeting with St. Louis was meaningful to Beck because it came after his first long stretch in the NHL, and it gave him a road map to earning his next long stretch, one Beck is hoping begins after training camp.<\/p>\n Although this was a unique scenario for Beck, it was not for St. Louis. He has this conversation every time a prospect is sent back to Laval, he said after Monday\u2019s game. It is a personalized road map that applies uniquely to that player, at once providing instruction on how he can get back to where he wants to be and also sending the message that he matters, that the NHL coach cares about his development and eventual arrival to a place where he can help the NHL club win games.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this generation, they want to know the \u2018why.\u2019 Because all these young players, all of them will hopefully have a long career, and if they do, we\u2019re doing our job,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not necessarily when he gets there; it\u2019s trying to get him there. Not everybody is ready at the same time, and not everybody has to work on the same thing, so you try to give them some kind of feedback. Because it can get confusing for a player sometimes when they get sent down, and now they think they just have to go downstairs and put some numbers up. Sometimes that\u2019s the case, but it\u2019s not always the case.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the case for Beck. His assignment in Laval was details, doing the things that lead to putting numbers up and not necessarily putting numbers up.<\/p>\n It was to stop \u201citching for offence.\u201d<\/p>\n That message has remained the same in training camp. And wouldn\u2019t you know it, it resulted in a goal in Beck\u2019s first preseason game.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f BECKER #GoHabsGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/w80HETOCOQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Canadiens Montr\u00e9al (@CanadiensMTL) September 23, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou try to give a player something so they can keep building their game,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cReal feedback, honesty. And it\u2019s not necessarily emotionally always a great time because they just got sent down, but I think those are important moments you have to take.\u201d<\/p>\n So, all these months later, and considering he has had similar conversations with several players, does St. Louis remember what he told Beck in Vancouver?<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, didn\u2019t he tell you?\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n He was told the question was not what he told Beck; it was whether he remembered what he told Beck. Because St. Louis hates divulging what he tells his players \u2014 that is covered by player-coach privilege and is something he refuses to breach \u2014 and most of his players hold that privilege to be sacred as well<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d St. Louis finally said, \u201cI do remember.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course he does. St. Louis is in the business of building relationships with not only the players who are playing for the Canadiens but also the players who will be playing for the Canadiens when they are successful. And Beck is potentially one of those players. As are Oliver Kapanen and Joshua Roy, two players competing with Beck for a spot next to Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc and who have already been sent down by the Canadiens and had those conversations with St. Louis.<\/p>\n Beck was on a line with Filip Me\u0161\u00e1r and Sean Farrell on Monday, and Kapanen got to play with Ivan Demidov and Patrik Laine. One was an NHL line, and one was not.<\/p>\n But Beck\u2019s perspective, at age 21 and in his second professional season, allowed him to look past that and not worry about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ve wasted a lot of energy trying to over-interpret and overthink a lot of that stuff,\u201d Beck said. \u201cNow I just come and play hockey and have fun and, at the end of the day, chase my dream. Just do the things I can do on the ice to try and show my versatility, my impact wherever I\u2019m playing. I\u2019m not trying to read into it too much; I\u2019m just trying to take the opportunity that\u2019s presented to me and go full force at it.\u201d<\/p>\n Beck feels that way, at least in part, because he has an assignment, one clearly communicated to him by his future or present NHL coach, and one he has put his entire focus on since getting that assignment in March in Vancouver.<\/p>\n Beck may or may not make the Canadiens at the end of camp, but his experience in transitioning from the junior to professional ranks provides a window into how the organization, and how St. Louis in particular, is trying to handle this transition.<\/p>\n And, at least from Beck\u2019s perspective, it seems very healthy.<\/p>\n (Photo: Eric Bolte \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n