Jake Bean hasn’t arrived in the NHL as early as others selected in the 2016 draft. That being said, he was a key part of Charlotte’s Calder Cup win last season and could be a big part of Carolina’s young team moving forward. Now with Calvin de Haan gone, could Bean get a chance with the Hurricanes this season?
Carolina is loaded on the right side, between Justin Faulk, Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce but are a bit more thin behind Jaccob Slavin on the left. Gustav Forsling is promising but it’s still unclear whether he could fit into a permanent top-four role in the next few years.
Bean was already called up last year, although just for a two-game stint where he only played about 17 minutes total. There isn’t a ton to go off of from that– he had no points and had an even plus/minus rating. He did have very poor advanced stats in that time with just a 24.3 Corsi For %, that being said it’s about as small as a sample size as you could possibly get.
His 0.63 points per game average in his 20-year-old season was similar to the likes of P.K. Subban, Brayden McNabb, Tyson Barrie, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi and Adam Larsson, all of which averaged within 0.06 points per game of him. Four of the six have gone on to be some of the most offensively talented defensemen in the NHL today.
It’s almost a guarantee that Bean see more NHL time this season and he’ll even have a chance at making the team out of camp. It’s probably more likely that he’s sent down to start the year and gets into some action through call-ups before becoming an NHL regular for the 2020-21 season. That being said, he’ll compete with Haydn Fleury, Gustav Forsling and Trevor Carrick for a spot on the left side and with a good training camp, it’s a possibility he starts in the NHL.
One way or another, Bean projects as a very skilled offensive defenseman. If Carolina can manage to retain Faulk and Hamilton to go along with Pesce and Slavin, once Bean reaches the NHL, the Hurricanes will improve on what's already one of the league's top defense groups.
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