The Capitals winger loves being the hard-hitting, gritty checking forward, and that's what's helping him make noise in the NHL.
WASHINGTON — Those who dream of making it to the NHL don't typically envision themselves being fourth-line grinders. For Beck Malenstyn, it's been a career-long aspiration that he's finally achieved with the Washington Capitals.
Malenstyn, who went in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, has worked his way up the ranks over the years and embraced an unorthodox identity for rising stars: a gritty, bottom-6 forward and utility player who can pack a punch, make big block shots and kill penalties.
It's far from flashy, but for Malenstyn, it's a role he takes a lot of pride in, and, admittedly enjoys, despite the soreness that comes with blocking shots or making big hits.
"I love being able to be physical. It's a huge part of my game, it gets me going," Malenstyn said, then flashed a grin, "Willing to take those bumps and bruises."
For the 25-year-old, it started as a way of putting himself on the radar, as coaches told him to use his size and strength to be the gritty go-to utility player. After all, those are the names that get minutes, and not only that, but every organization loves a coachable player.
And, at the end of the day, grit, reliability and adaptability became a big part of Malenstyn's game and is ultimately what led him to getting drafted in 2015 and eventually going pro.
"When I came in, I had a very clear identity that this is what I was going to have to do, whatever way you can get your foot in the door," Malenstyn explained. "I definitely have nothing against being that hard-nose, penalty-kill, checking kind of player."
It's been a long time coming for Malenstyn, who dealt with a torn Achilles and broken hand while facing some adversity en route to the NHL. However, after helping the Hershey Bears capture the Calder Cup last season and making the most of previous call-ups, he won himself a roster spot this season and has done everything right to keep it.
Not only has he helped the Capitals rediscover their identity on the fourth line while working with Nic Dowd and Nicolas Aube-Kubel, but Malenstyn has also become one of the most instrumental forwards in Washington's new-found success, while he's also become one of the league's most dependable young forwards.
Through 20 games this season, Malenstyn leads all Capitals forwards in blocks (28) and ranks second on the team in hits (48), and he also has two goals and an assist, including a highlight-reel breakaway goal against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Kngihts.
Not only that, but his shorthanded ice time per game of 3:09 leads his team and all first-year players in the league while ranking third overall among all NHL forwards.
"The biggest thing is just having that commitment to defense and focusing in on those details. It's a huge part of my game," Malenstyn said. "Since I was drafted by this organization, they painted me a pretty clear picture of what kind of player I needed to be to make it to this level. They've been super supportive this entire time throughout my pro career of getting me to this point and hammering home those details on every given night"
It's not just his stats that are impressive, though. It's the all-around play, his speed, grit, physicality and willingness to sacrifice the body that makes him stand out from the likes of fellow freshmen Logan Cooley and Connor Bedard.
"He works extremely hard, he's a good skater, he's hard on pucks," Tom Wilson said. "He's [playing in] a role where you're in situations where you need to be responsible, you need to be good or penalty kill late in the league, and he's shown he can do that so far. He's got to keep it going."
Ultimately, though, Malenstyn's bread and butter is his ability to stop plays in their tracks while doing away with any structure the opposition may have to start a game.
"He's been fantastic. The way that he skates and moves and reads is the reason why he's her. "It seems like any kind of edge that a team gets in a certain scenario, he's the one to make that big block or to have a good stick coming through the seam when they're trying to go backdoor," John Carlson said. "It just seems like he kills a lot of plays, which is what you need... the's at the forefront of every stop. It's like, 'Oh, there's Beck again, making a block or disrupting and making them get out of sync or out of structure."
Though Malenstyn doesn't technically qualify as a rookie, considering he played more than six NHL games in each of the last two seasons, he is still among the more intriguing players in the freshman class as he navigates his first full year at the highest level.
For head coach Spencer Carbery, that's been the most impressive part, as he's watched Malenstyn trend away from the typical rookie prototype to become a key part of the team's identity going forward. And ultimately, that's what separates him from those who can make it and those who can't.
"He embraces that [gritty style], and that's been since day one... he's one of those players that takes a ton of pride in blocking shots and being an elite penalty killer and being a very difficult player to play against," Carbery said. "He's physical, hard of the forecheck. He's continued to grow in that area and just become very, very, very elite, and he's starting to become elite at the NHL level.
"He's just someone that knows, 'I could play in the NHL for a long, long time if I get really, really good in this area,' and that's exactly what he does," he added. "Sometimes it takes players five, six years to recognize that and go, 'Oh, if I just do this really well, I can play for 10 years in the NHL.' He recognized it early and knows, 'This is what I need to do, and this is my M.O. and will give me the chance to be in the NHL for a long, long time.'"