From Alexeyev to Wilson, we’re taking a look at and grading the 2023-24 season for every player who laced ‘em up for the Washington Capitals for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2024-25. Next up, Beck Malenstyn.
The Bio:
#47 | Left Wing | Shoots: Left
Height: 6’3” | Weight: 200 | Born: February 4, 1998
Birthplace: Delta, British Columbia | Acquired: Drafted in 2016, 5th round (145th overall)
Cap Hit: $762,500 | Signed Through: 2023-24 | Expiry Status: Restricted Free Agent
The Scouting Report (via CapFriendly):
Report: November 2023 | Rating: 75 | Projection: Third Line
- A 3F / 4F depending on opponents and in game scenarios.
- Good size. Moves well. Competes. Goes to the hard areas to battle and extend plays.
- Finishes his checks. Blocks shots.
- Role player. Opens up space for line mates.
- Averages around 13:00 TOI – ES and PK.
- Works the entire 200ft / zone to zone.
The Stats:
The Charts:
The Key Stat: After bouncing between the AHL and NHL, and dealing with significant injury issues, 23-year-old Malenstyn played 81 of the 82 games this season – almost four times as many as he’d appeared in with the Caps over his first three seasons combined, dating back to his NHL debut back in 2019-20.
The Good: With the departure of Garnet Hathaway at last year’s trade deadline, the Caps had a need for another gritty forward to fill in on the fourth line. Beck Malenstyn, fresh off a Calder Cup win with the Bears, was well suited to the task, and turned a solid showing at training camp into a spot on the opening-night roster. And there he stayed all season, usually lined up alongside Nic Dowd and a rotation of wingers, setting career-highs in goals (6), assists (15), points (21) and games played (81) along the way.
Malenstyn has proven that he’s not afraid of throwing the body around, and led the Caps in hits with 241 (a total that put him 11th among all NHL skaters) and all Caps’ forwards in blocked shots with 93. He also became one of the team’s most reliable penalty-killers, leading all Caps’ forwards in shorthanded ice time per game with 2:37, and picked up the first shorthanded point of his career (part of a multipoint outing against the Penguins in March).
The Bad: Malenstyn is very fun to watch. He’s got good energy, he gets his nose dirty, he’s scrappy, all the fun things you’d associate with a fourth-liner. Unfortunately, he struggled – along with the fourth line as a whole, really – with doing the main job of a fourth-liner, namely to keep the other team’s offense from getting chances.
Um… oops.
Yes, Malenstyn blocked a ton of shots, but the fact that he was in a position to do so on such a frequent basis is not great – because as we know, if you’re blocking the puck that often, it means you don’t have the puck. The numbers bear that out. No one on the Capitals had a lower CF% at even strength (min 10 GP) or a worse CF% Rel than Malenstyn this season, and only the since-departed Evgeny Kuznetsov had a worse xGF% among forwards.
On the penalty kill, where he spent more time than any other forward, he was on the ice for 28 goals against – enough to put him in the top (or, in this case, bottom) 20 among all NHL forwards. Granted, goals-against is just another form of plus-minus and therefore not a telling stat all on its own… but you still don’t want to be one of the worst in a specific area.
The Video: It may not have been the prettiest goal he’s ever scored but this shot-turned-own goal by a Penguins’ defender is a favorite, nonetheless.
The Discussion: Do you see Malenstyn as officially having made the jump to the NHL or do you think he’ll continue to bounce between the Caps and Bears? As he heads to RFA status, what kind of deal do you think Malenstyn can get this summer? What do you see his role being next season? And finally, what would it take for you to give Malenstyn a 10 next season?
The Vote: Rate Beck Malenstyn below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – so if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.