The Calgary Flames have added a player to their roster on Tuesday afternoon. Per multiple reports, first from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Flames have claimed forward John Beecher off waivers from the Boston Bruins.

The Flames, by virtue of being 32nd in the overall standings, had first priority on the waiver wire, and thus were guaranteed to add Beecher once they decided to put in a claim.

Beecher is a 24-year-old left shot forward who primarily plays centre, but can also play on the wing. He’s listed at 6’3″ and 220 pounds, and he was a first-round selection by Boston in the 2019 NHL Draft. (Beecher was selected at 30th overall, the Flames selected Jakob Pelletier at 26th overall.)

A product of Elmira, New York, Beecher came up through the U.S. National Development Program, then moved on to join the University of Michigan for three seasons. He went pro at the end of the 2021-22 season, signing an NHL deal and joining the Bruins system. He spent 2022-23 with AHL Providence, 2023-24 split between Providence and Boston, and became a full-time NHLer with the Bruins last season. He was teammates with Dustin Wolf with Team USA at the 2020 World Juniors.

So far this season, Beecher has one goal in six games with Boston. He’s on a one year deal worth $900,000, and he’ll become a restricted free agent at the end of the season. The Flames have a centre problem, in that two of their best centres are both older than 35. Beecher is big and was pretty well-regarded in his draft year, so a waiver claim is a very low-cost, low-risk way to try him out. If it doesn’t seem like a fit, they can always decline to give him a qualifying offer and nobody’s worse off for it.

The Flames now have an active roster of 23 players: two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 14 forwards. Sam Honzek, Zayne Parekh and Martin Pospisil are on the injury reserve list.

The Flames are back in action on Tuesday night when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks.

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