Blue line special: Bean ready to start work for the Americans

Jake Bean knew he would have a new zip code after returning from his stint with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship.

Turns out Bean, 19, will be packing up his gear for a trip south of the Canadian border after the Tri-City Americans paid a hefty price for the Calgary Hitmen defenseman this past weekend.

“I’m really excited,” said Bean, who was a first-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2016. “I think when we were 10 games into the season and we weren’t doing that great, I talked to (general manager) Jeff Chynoweth. He wanted to know what I was thinking. I knew I would get traded, I just didn’t know where. The last couple of years with Calgary haven’t been the best standings wise. I’m excited to be on the other side of the coin and have a run at it. In no way am I disappointed with where I am going.”

The Americans made the trade with Calgary on Saturday night, shipping defenseman Dakota Krebs, forward Carson Focht, a 2019 first-round bantam draft pick, and second-round picks in 2018 and 2020.

“Looking at our team with Juuso (Välimäki), Michael (Rasmussen), Morgan Geekie and Dylan (Coghlan), if we were going to be a buyer at the deadline it would be this year,” Tri-City general manager Bob Tory said. “I wanted to get back with four core guys on the blue line. I focused on trying to get one, and I got him.”

With just five points separating first and fifth in the U.S. Division before games Tuesday night, Tory said the Americans were willing to pay to shore up their blue line.

“I think you can overcome a first-round pick,” Tory said. “We did it with Carter Ashton and Colton Yellow Horn. To get a quality player, you have to pay. I’m happy with who we got, now we just have to get healthy.”

The Americans lost forwards Geekie (upper body) and Kyle Olson (lower body) to injuries during their two-game trip to Prince George. With Rasmussen out at least another 4-6 weeks after having wrist surgery, and Välimäki out for a bit after getting hurt at the WJC, adding Bean will help.

Bean will join the Americans for practice Thursday, and pull on his No. 2 sweater for his first game Friday against the Portland Winterhawks.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Bean grew up in Calgary, where his dad John is COO of the Calgary Flames. He had five goals and 22 assists in 25 game for the Hitmen before the trade. He had two assists in helping Team Canada to gold at the WJC.

In 187 WHL games, Bean has 42 goals (22 on the power play) and 133 assists.

In his three-plus seasons with the Hitmen, he lived at home, except for his time with Team Canada and camps with the Hurricanes.

“It’s more exciting that scary,” Bean said of leaving home. “I’m ready for the opportunity.”

Bean, who was overlooked in the bantam draft, joined the Hitmen as a list player for the 2014-15 season. His game has flourished since then.

Aside from his WHL stats, he won a gold with Team Canada at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Tournament, silver at the WJC last year, and gold last week.

Calgary has been to the playoffs the past three seasons, but lost in the first round each time.

“I think you are drafted so young in the WHL, that so much can happen in a year or two,” Bean said. “I love this sport and I have had a lot of people in my life who have helped me. The hardest thing about leaving this organization, is they believed in me when no one else did. I am thankful for my time here, but it is time to move on.”

Bean said he knows a few guys on the Tri-City roster. He and Rasmussen played in the Canada-Russia Series together with Team WHL. He played against Välimäki at the WJC, and played with Geekie at the Caroline rookie camp.

When he was just 12 or 13, he was on a team with Parker AuCoin and Nolan Yaremko that went to Europe for a few weeks to play.

Bean was to have his last hurrah in Calgary on Saturday, dropping the puck for the Calgary Flames-Anaheim Ducks game, but his plane was delayed and he missed the start of the game.

Bean will get one more chance to play in front of family and friends when the Americans visit the Hitmen on Feb. 14.

“It will be different,” he said. “But it will be fun to be in the building with family and friends. I love the (Saddle) Dome, but I am excited for a fresh start.”

Injury update

Tri-City will be without Välimäki for the next couple of weeks as he heals from an upper-body injury he played through at the WJC.

Välimäki was captain of the Finnish national junior team at the WJC in Buffalo, N.Y., where they lost in the quarterfinals.

Välimäki, 19, flew from Buffalo to Calgary where he was examined by the Flames’ medical staff. The injury isn’t major, but is enough to keep him out of action for a couple of weeks. He will be re-evaluated Jan. 17.

Välimäki, selected in the first round of the 2017 NHL draft by the Flames, has five goals and 15 assists in 19 games with Tri-City, but missed five games between Nov. 18 and Dec. 8 with knee injury. He returned to play three games before joining Finland for the WJC.

This story was originally published January 9, 2018 at 7:47 PM with the headline "Blue line special: Bean ready to start work for the Americans."