Summer Spotlight: Bean hopes to rebound after injury-plagued season

Number:22

Birth date:June 9, 1998 (age 25)

Birthplace:Calgary, Alberta

Height, Weight: 6-1, 196

2022-23 Stats:14 GP, 1-5-6

Contract: Signed through 2023-24 season (One year remaining until RFA status)

As we've gone through the summer spotlights this season, the word frustrating has been used a lot, and it certainly applies for Jake Bean.

After a strong offseason in which he had added weight and strength, he had just been given the opportunity of his career in November of last season when Zach Werenski went down with a season-ending injury, and it looked like Bean might take it and run with it. He played more than 26 minutes in the game Werenski was injured and more than 21 in the next contest, but then fate stepped in.

Bean skated just 8:55 in the next contest against Philadelphia when he, like Werenski, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Just when it looked like he might get No. 1 minutes and show he had what it took to potentially be a top defenseman, the 2016 first-round draft pick went on the shelf.

It's a shame, too, because Bean had slowly been growing into such a role. He didn't immediately make an impact with Carolina after being drafted, but he was the 2019-20 defenseman of the year in the AHL and was earning NHL playing time with Carolina before being traded to the Blue Jackets.

He played in 67 games in 2021-22 in his first season with Columbus and had some bright moments, posting seven goals -- all at even strength, two of them in overtime -- to go with 18 assists for 25 points. In all, he's posted nine goals and 43 points in 125 NHL games, and his goal-scoring and power-play quarterbacking abilities were just starting to come to the fore with the Blue Jackets.

With the CBJ blue line still in flux, he'll have an opportunity to keep building his game this season if he can stay healthy, and he's approaching an age where defensemen start to find consistency in the NHL game.

Top Moment of 2022-23

Bean had just one goal on the season, but it came in a victory at Nationwide Arena on Oct. 20 against Nashville. Columbus was down 2-0 late in the second against the Predators but on the power play when Bean came over the line, took a pass from Kent Johnson and fired a shot past goalie Kevin Lankinen. Bean has shown a shot that can beat NHL goalies in his two seasons with the Blue Jackets, and this was just one example of it.

Bean's Top Highlight

Stat to Know

There have been a number of CBJ players with only eight letters in their full name - or at least what they commonly went by - over the years, from Bean to Rick Nash to Jan Hejda. But can you name the only two players with fewer letters in their names? The answer is Ian Cole and T.J. Tynan, who both had seven.

2023-24 Expectations

Bean was dealt a tough hand when his season ended so early because of injury, and it's fair to say he was starting to show some things early last year in the limited time he had. Staying healthy would be a big thing for him this year, and with the Blue Jackets loaded with right-shot defensemen, he'll have an opportunity to earn playing time on the left behind Werenski and Ivan Provorov. With a two-way game, he could shine in a third-pair role, but now at age 25 and with a contract set to expire after this season, the onus will be on him to take off this season.