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Defensive Play of Red Wings Prospect no Longer Offensive

Becher becomes 200-foot player and NHL hopeful

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2 months ago

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Ondrej Becher, Red Wings prospect
Red Wings draftee Ondrej Becher found that by making a commitment to defense, his offensive game picked up significantly.

If forward Ondrej Becher becomes a productive NHL player, the Detroit Red Wings should be sending a thank you card to Radim Rulik.

At the 2023 World Junior Championship, Rulik, coach of Czechia, made Becher his final cut. The reason he would cite to Becher for his dismissal was his inability, even lack of interest, in playing a two-way game.

At the time, Becher was a Czech who wouldn’t check.

Departing the World Junior stage, Becher took the message to heart. And because he chose to embrace a commitment to a 200-foot game, today he’s an NHL prospect.

Passed over in previous NHL entry drafts, the Red Wings wound up making Prince George Cougars center Becher the 80th player chosen in the 2024 draft.

On the surface, people are looking at Becher’s 32 goals and 96 points for the Cougars last season as the reason an NHL team was was finally calling his name on draft day.

He’ll tell you something completely different.

“I think I started to play more defensively, so I became a two-way player now,” Becher said. “I wasn’t a two-way player before. So I try to improve in the defensive zone and I think I did.

“I think that’s why I’m here now.”

At the 2024 World Juniors, Becher would play a starring role for Czechia. He would post 3-7-10 totals in five games, including 3-2-5 digits during an 8-5 win over Finland.

Modeled Game After Krejci

“I will say that I am more of a passer than a shooter,” Becher expressed.

He joined Pavel Brendl, Radek Duda and ZdenÄ›k Blatný as the only Czech players to post a 90-point season in the WHL. He’s the first to do so in 24 years.

“It just looked like everything potentially that he had as a 17, 18-year-old kind of hit as a 19-year-old,” Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said. “He got a great opportunity and took advantage of it and was real comfortable in it. He certainly put up great numbers.

“His skating is something that when you watch him play, he has that extra gear. He’s just sort of starting to come into his own and starting to feel comfortable about the type of player that he could possibly be. ”

Even Becher’s NHL role model was showing him the right way to play the game.

“My favorite player when I was younger was David Krejci, who played for Boston,” Becher explained. “He was an amazing player.

“He played two ways like I think I’m playing now.”

Where Will Red Wings Play Becher?

The biggest questsion mark facing Becher now is where will he play next season?

“I don’t know,” he frankly admitted.

Even the Red Wings don’t see to have an answer ready to the query at the present time.

If he goes back to junior, Becher, 20, would be an overager. Were he to be sent to the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins, he might have to adjust to playing on the wing. In Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson and Amadeus Lombardi, the Griffins figure to be deep down the middle.

“He’s a little bit older, a fun guy,” Red Wings director of player development Dan Cleary said. “He’s got skills. It was nice to watch him play.

“We’ll see what transpires here in terms of where he’s going to play.”

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