With Kirby Dach on the wing: the Habs already have their second center in their organization

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Jeff Drouin
November 14, 2022 (3:03 PM)

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It's not just in Montreal that the organization's young players are performing extremely well, it seems to be a feeling that has become widespread just about everywhere.

The future of the team seems to be particularly exciting and for once in decades, the club has a real pool of young, super-talented players that will be added to the Tricolore's roster sooner rather than later.

In the last draft, the Habs seem to have hit four home runs in four attempts with their first draft picks, thanks to the selections of Juraj Slafkovsky, Filip Mesar, Owen Beck and Lane Hutson.

It's looking more and more certain that all four of these players will have promising NHL careers one day.

With the current situation in the NHL where Kirby Dach has taken off since he is now being used on the wing on the first line of the lineup, this has left a gaping hole at the second center position on the team.

However, it is quite possible that the organization already has a player in-house to fill that role in the National Hockey League for the long term.

Owen Beck is surprising a lot of people on how his game is evolving and developing this season. While the 18-year-old center is primarily known for his outstanding defensive skills, he is showing this year that he is a much more dominant player offensively than anticipated when he was drafted.

In 15 games this season, number 92 of the Mississauga Steelheads has a total of 22 points, including 13 goals. He ranks second in the OHL in goals scored and is 11th in scoring.

With that kind of production, Beck could easily surpass the 50-goal mark this season, as well as score over 90 points. That's pretty impressive, especially coming from a player who prioritizes his defensive game over offense.

With such a solid offensive output, the 33rd overall pick in the draft is establishing himself as a potential top-6 center who will be able to produce offensively, as well as being very responsible in both directions of the ice.

Let's just say that the Habs' future center line is shaping up to be very difficult to play against.