The Boston Bruins recalled Johnny Beecher on Wednesday on an emergency basis, but the 22-year-old forward is hoping to last longer than that.

BRIGHTON, Mass. – In the final days of 2023, with the Boston Bruins preparing to take on the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 30, Johnny Beecher sat at his locker stall after practice. As part of a segment for NESN, a reporter went around asking players in the Bruins’ locker room what their New Years’ resolution was.

Beecher’s answer: Stay in Boston.

The 22-year-old rookie, who earned the spot of fourth-line center with a strong performance in training camp, was feeling his position slip. He’s not relied on to score, but he hadn’t recorded a point in three games and hadn't scored a goal in 11. His ice time was trending down, and his face-off winning percentage – one of his calling cards – was losing consistency.

Beecher had a single-game face-off percentage below 50 percent 10 times in the first two months of the season (27 games). In 12 games over the next month, it happened eight times.

Just two weeks into 2024, Beecher was sent down to AHL Providence.

“It’s obviously part of the business sometimes, unfortunately,” Beecher told The Hockey News on Wednesday. “I’ve been able to go down [to Providence] and help that team win a bunch of games, have a ton of success and being able to log a bunch of minutes every night and get some different opportunities that may not have been there when I was up here, which completely makes sense.”

Beecher was an emergency recall on Monday with Charlie Coyle questionable due to illness. Coyle ended up playing against the St. Louis Blues and Beecher was sent back down, but with James van Riemsdyk and Matt Grzelcyk missing Wednesday’s practice due to illnesses, Beecher was brought back up with a real chance to play on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens – two months after his last NHL game.

Despite his inconsistencies at the face-off dot before going down, Beecher could be of real use for a Bruins team that has won just 42.8 percent of face-offs in the past seven games. That figure drops down to 38.8 percent if you take out an outlying 56.7 percent success rate in Saturday’s 5-1 beatdown of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery acknowledged as much, pointing out Beecher’s ability on the penalty kill as well.

“What we heard is he kept getting better and better,” Montgomery said on Wednesday. “He kept showing that he’s fighting for a spot to get back up here. That’s why he’s the guy being recalled for an emergency situation.”

Beecher sees success at the dot as an avenue of staying in the NHL, but his biggest focus in Providence was to achieve more consistency across his entire game. He scored three goals and two assists across his last four games in the AHL, and while he played a bigger role there compared to what he’ll be returning to in Boston, he hopes his improved conditioning and newfound confidence will keep him in the NHL for the long haul.

“Nobody wants to be sent down and be away from your teammates that you were with the whole first half of the year,” Beecher told The Hockey News. “But happy to be back now and excited to hopefully get another chance.”

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