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A weekly look at former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins continuing their careers overseas:
Player: Kris Beech
Position: Center
Age: 34
Played with WBS: 2002-2005
Currently playing: Ireland – Belfast Giants (EIHL)
Kris Beech joined the Pittsburgh organization in the Jaromir Jagr trade, coming over from the Washington Capitals in 2001. In his first season, he spent all of 2001-02 with Pittsburgh, appearing in 79 games and scoring 10 goals. Things were looking up for the 1999 first-round draft pick, but he spent the bulk of the next three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before joining the Nashville organization in 2005.
From that point on, Beech bounced between the NHL and AHL, playing with seven teams before coming back to Pittsburgh in January 2008 for a brief five-game stint. That October, after not making Pittsburgh’s roster in training camp, Beech went overseas to the Swedish Elite League. From 2008 to 2012 he played with Swedish clubs, and after that he played in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria before joining the Belfast Giants this season.
Beech’s best season overseas was in 2008-09 when he scored 17 goals and 34 points in 45 games with HV71 Jonkoping. In 2011-12, Beech scored 15 goals with Lukko Rauma, but has yet to top double-digits in goals since then.