Is time ticking on Adam Beckman's chances of being a future NHL player?
Adam Beckman burst onto the scene in the 2021 preseason for the Wild where he recorded four goals, including two in his first preseason game of the year. He got in a fight and outplayed many of the other Wild rookies but started the season in Iowa.
The Wild claimed Rem Pitlick off waivers from Nashville and essentially gave the Minnesota native the final spot on the roster. Pitlick played everywhere and got many chances to show off his skills. Chances that could've been given to Beckman after his terrific preseason.
Pitlick even got chances to play with Kiril Kaprizov, Ryan Hartman, and Mats Zuccarello in the 2021-22 season. He was later placed on waivers and claimed by the Montreal Canadiens. Now Pitlick is a healthy scratch for the 14-32-2 Blackhawks just two years later at the age of 26.
Beckman was sent to the AHL after preseason concluded where he has played a total of 12 NHL games and 167 AHL games for the Iowa Wild since.
He was once the top scorer in the WHL for the Spokane Chiefs during the 2019-20 season with 48 goals and 107 points. Beckman went on to play another year in the WHL and even got nine games in the AHL in the 2020-21 season where he put up three goals and five points.
The next season he tore up the preseason but was sent down to Iowa where he was used for part of the season on a checking line. That role didn't last long. He got to eventually play with Marco Rossi and Matt Boldy before Boldy was called up.
According to CapFriendly's Transactions log, Beckman has been recalled by the Wild four times in his career, including this recent call-up. Over the years when the Wild have needed a forward, guys like Nic Petan, Jake Lucchini, Steven Fogarty, Sammy Walker, and Joseph Cramarossa have gotten the calls instead of Beckman.
"Uhh no I don't think so. I think it's just part of the game," Beckman said on if it's been frustrating not getting a chance and watching other players being called up before him. "I was hurt for a little bit there so just getting back from that is kind of what you're focused on and just getting healthy and feeling like you're playing good hockey I think is the biggest thing."
In his four seasons in the AHL, Beckman has recorded 47 goals and 94 points in 167 games. It isn't like he has blown the competition out of the water but it still is odd that the Wild's former 75th overall pick hasn't gotten a real chance to prove himself in the NHL. Even after his 24-goal season last year at the age of 21 in the AHL.
This year Beckman has only notched nine goals in 37 games but the 6-foot-2 forward has been shooting the puck a lot recently, in hopes of regaining his scoring touch.
"That's kind of been a focus of mine this season," Beckman said on shooting more recently. "My first year I was shooting everything and this and that. Then last year I think I kind of got away from it a little bit and even at the beginning of this year, kind of getting away from that mentality.
"As of late, I've just been trying to not pass up on anything. That's kind of the mentality we've been having with our team down there. We've been struggling to score a little bit and get pucks through. I think flipping that script and trying to get everything to the net will create a higher probability of scoring."
This is probably one of the reasons Beckman was recalled. To possibly provide a scoring spark or generate some offense with his high shooting volume for a team that has averaged 1.63 5v5 goals in the last 11 games.
But tonight, Beckman will watch the Wild play from the press box.
"It's clear. There's a lot of good players in Iowa," Beckman said when asked if he has had a conversation with the Wild's upper management on maybe why he hasn't gotten a full chance at the next level. "We're competing every day collectively to win hockey games. Like you said, you're trying to continue to get better and I think for me it's about continuing to get better and keep working on my game. If you're down there (Iowa) try to take advantage of the role you're given and if you get to come up here (Minnesota) take advantage of the opportunity. That's all it is."
Tonight's opportunity for Beckman will allow him to be around the guys but to watch from afar. Beckman may get an opportunity on Friday when the Wild face the Pittsburgh Penguins at home. If not, Beckman might continue to slide down the prospect pipeline as more and more high-end prospects flood the Wild's roster and affiliates like Iowa.
"Sometimes with young players a lot of time, training camps are misleading at the time," Wild head coach John Hynes said on what Beckman needs to do in order to be a NHL mainstay someday. "You see a lot of guys come in and they're on adrenaline and they play well and then sometimes as preseason goes on and the rosters get tighter and more and more towards an NHL-style roster. Sometimes you see players that can almost get through training camp and then lots of times they wind up going down to the American League and then reality sets in where it's the second-best league in the world.
"It's understanding what your game is and what your identity is and trying to do that on a consistent basis. I think at the same time for prospects it's understanding the hardness of the pro game in a situation where you're playing against older guys, stronger guys, more experienced guys, smarter guys than at the lower levels. I think what comes into these situations for younger players is they have good spurts, it could be a training camp, it could be a call-up, and then sometimes it dries up for a little bit. Then the real essence of your pro career is trying to get to that game whether it's in the NHL or the American League regularly. I wouldn't necessarily say in my experience that Beckman's status has dropped."
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