Jake Bean was a new inclusion to the squad this year – a fresh, much-needed addition to the CBJ defense. He had previously been with Carolina for a handful of NHL games, primarily playing for their Charlotte Checkers AHL team, earning AHL First All-Star team recognition in 2020 and AHL All-Rookie team recognition in 2019. He’s now spent over half of his NHL games (111) with the Blue Jackets (67) and I was happy to watch him grown and develop with the team this year.
Bean was a consistent presence on the ice; not a splashy player (yet) but was dependable and constant. I loved watching him warm up – he does this very graceful backwards swooping figure skate motion during pregame ice time. He is one of my favorite skaters to watch and it’s clear he has a very deep technical understanding of the game.
2022 Stats
Games Played: 67
Goals: 7
Assists: 18
Points: 25
Plus/Minus: -5
PIM: 26
5v5 CF%: 48.6%
5v5 FF%: 46.8%
Contract Status
Jake Bean was signed to a three-year contract with an annual value of $2.33 million/year in July of 2021. He will be an RFA at the end of the 2023-24 season when he is 26 years old.
High Point
Here’s one:
Here’s another:
He had a few shining moments this year and I am looking forward to many more in the upcoming seasons!
Low Point
Bean suffered a groin injury on January 30 against the Canadiens which sidelined him for 14 games – the timing was bad and derailed any momentum he had going at the halfway point of the season. By the time he had recovered and got back into the swing of things, the Jackets had sealed their fate and the season was winding to a close.
Report Card
I’m going to give him a C+ for a mostly average season, with some shining moments scattered around – for his first real NHL season, I think it’s fair to say he has much better years ahead of him!
How would you grade Jake Bean’s 2021-22 season?
| A | 0 |
| B | 22 |
| C | 35 |
| D | 3 |
| F | 0 |