Summer Spotlight: Jake Bean

Number: 22
Birth date: June 9, 1998 (age 24)
Birthplace:Calgary, Alberta
Height, Weight:6-1, 176
Stats: 67 GP, 7-18-25
Contract: Signed through 2023-24 season (Two years remaining until RFA status)

On draft day 2021, the Blue Jackets made a blockbuster trade that sent Seth Jones to Chicago for a huge return.
In a slightly less celebrated deal, Columbus then sent a second-round pick to Carolina for Jake Bean.
The former first-round pick had gotten his feet wet with two seasons with the Hurricanes, and he ended up having an eventual first season with the Blue Jackets. Bean missed some time with injury but earned top-pair minutes, ran a power-play unit and showed two-way skill that should keep on getting better considering he's still played just 111 NHL games.
Along the way, he caught some eyes with his abilities as a steady performer.
"He is sneaky skilled," fellow defenseman Zach Werenski said. "I think he doesn't do stuff that you are really going to notice if you don't play hockey, but he's super skilled with the puck. He makes plays that it might look easy when he makes them, but they're not easy by any means. I've had to learn that part of his game. It's hard to explain, but he makes plays."

Top Moment of 2021-22

Bean had a pair of overtime winners on the season, and one of them capped one of Bean's biggest games of the season. Early on, the Blue Jackets tripped to take on eventual Stanley Cup winner Colorado and Bean notched two goals in that Nov. 3 contest, including the game winner in overtime. He first drew the Jackets within one with a goal late in the first, then sniped a shot past goalie Jonas Johansson 1:12 into overtime to give Columbus the 5-4 victory.

A Bean Highlight

Stat to Know

You don't think about defensemen scoring overtime goals all that often, and in fact Bean's two extra-time tallies put him in elite company among CBJ defensemen. The only previous CBJ defensemen to have at least two OT goals in one season were Seth Jones (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19) and Zach Werenski (2019-20); in fact, Bean's two overtime goals were the first by a CBJ defenseman other than Jones or Werenski since Jack Johnson got the winner March 31, 2015, vs. New Jersey.

2022-23 Expectations

Bean started last season on the first pair with Werenski and finished just behind Andrew Peeke when it came to the most time playing with Werenski at 5-on-5 on the season. But Bean will likely face a tougher fight for minutes this year with the Jackets adding to their right-side defensive depth this offseason with the additions of Erik Gudbranson and Nick Blankenburg. Bean is a solid two-way player who is still growing, so there's even more potential there, and he'll be a key part of the CBJ defensive corps yet again.