Both Sammy Walker and Adam Beckman are goal scorers.
But the Iowa Wild scoring duo hasn’t been as efficient finding the back of the net this season following their career years offensively in the 2022-23 campaign. Walker, 24, and Beckman, 22, scored 27 and 24 goals, respectively, last season, but haven’t had that type of goal scoring touch a year later.
Walker scored his first goal of the season on Dec. 1 after going scoreless in his first 15 games. Beckman scored five goals in his first 13 games, but then he had a 17-game goalless streak. When that streak ended on Jan. 20, it had been over two months since he had last scored. In some respects, they’ve had similar seasons.
“I think they had high hopes in what their production would be,” Iowa Wild general manager Mike Murray told The Hockey News, “but for them as young players to be able to fight their way through that in that if you’re not scoring goals as a skilled player, (you’re) still finding a way to impact the game and impact the team positively and help contribute to the success of the team. …
“So, in a way, it’s (been) good for these players to go through those hardships there at the AHL level to be able to round out kind of their full game.”
They haven’t had the production they had hoped for. But, as Murray said, the lack of scoring has helped them round out their games — which will be beneficial whenever they find themselves back up in the NHL.
To their credit, both of them have increased their production as the season’s progressed. Walker has 10 goals and 24 points in his past 32 games after starting the season with zero goals and seven points through 15 games.
As Murray said, Walker has “refound that magic” he had last year. He’s second in scoring with 31 points behind Nic Petan and leads the team with 121 shots in 47 games, a 2.57 shot-per-game clip.
“He was getting the chances (and) he was getting the opportunities,” Murray said of Walker. “He’s been committed to playing the right way, and now you see him getting rewarded for it. He’s got a knack with the puck on his stick and playing fast and with speed. And it’s great for him and for us down there to see the puck going in and hopefully that continues. We’re a better team when he’s playing that way, for sure.”
Beckman has eight goals in his past 13 games and is up to a team-leading 13 goals and 25 points (third) in 43 games.
He also ranks second in shots with 110. Despite that 17-game goalless drought, Beckman is still projected to hit 20 goals for a second straight season in Iowa.
Iowa is tied for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Central Division right now, so the team needs its scoring duo in Walker and Beckman to be at their best down the stretch in order to make the postseason for a second season in a row.
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