Vancouver Canucks 2016 NHL Draft Profile: D Jake Bean
The Vancouver Canucks are preparing for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft — and so are we.
Unfortunately, the 2015-16 season was cut short for the Vancouver Canucks, which means we have a long offseason ahead of us. Canucks GM Jim Benning and his staff will use the time to prepare next season’s roster, and the 2016 NHL Entry Draft will certainly play an important part in that process.
Vancouver started off strong in the fall of 2015 but ended the season with a thud. Thanks to their abysmal 28th rank in the league standings, the Canucks own seven picks early in each round. Benning did a great job in his first two years at the job and another successful draft could certainly help boost the rebuild.
Here at The Canuck Way, we will do our best to prepare you for the upcoming event by profiling as many draft-eligible players as we possibly can. Keep in mind that we are not saying these are players the Canucks are targeting. Instead, these are players that we think the Canucks could or should have interest in.
Let’s take a look at WHL defenceman Jake Bean of the Calgary Hitmen!
Name: Jake Bean
Position: Defence
Shoots: Left
Height, weight: 6’1”, 170 lbs
Team/League: Calgary Hitmen, WHL
Stats (from eliteprospects.com):
G
A
P
PIM
+/-
68244064288
NHL CSS Ranking: 15th (North American Skaters)
Risk, Reward: 1.5/5, 4/5
NHL-potential: Top-Pairing Defenceman
Draft Range: Top 15
Scouting report
>A shifty and intelligent defenceman that plays with panache and poise. An excellent skater that is a good puck-carrier up the ice. Makes very good decisions with and without the puck, and plays strong positionally. Works hard and doesn’t give the opposition much to work with, but could stand to be a bit more assertive during high pressure situations. That being said, he is not a one dimentional player. He displays natural talent in the offensive end, but also plays a complete defensive game in his own end. He has a proactive stick and boxes the opposition out, limiting lanes. All-in-all, the type of all-around defenceman that you want to have on the ice as much as possible. (Curtis Joe, Elite Prospects 2016)
Strengths
Jake Bean is possibly the best puck mover and distributor in this year’s draft class of defencemen. He can carry the puck up ice, move past opponents and play accurate passes. He plays accurate breakout passes and distributes the puck well on offence.
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Bean displays great hockey sense in all areas of the ice. Before he gets the puck in his own zone, he seems to know where it will go next.
As soon as he gains possession, he takes off to take the puck back up ice and drive the attack. He sees the ice very well and always finds open passing lanes. A great power-play quarterback who can set up teammates for scoring chances in all situations.
Furthermore, Bean is a great skater who puts his edges to good use in tight turns as well as stop and gos to transition from defence to offence or from offence to defence. He is quick on the backcheck and does a good job defensively as well.
Weaknesses
At 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, Bean is far away from having an NHL frame. That becomes clear not just looking at the numbers but watching him play. He sometimes struggles defensively when playing against stronger competition and is not as hard to knock off the puck as he could be, if he filled out his frame.
While some smaller players play bigger than they are thanks to a gritty playing style, Bean seems to be fine with his game. He plays well defensively and works hard, but he does not play particularly mean.
For an offensive-minded defenceman, Bean could definitely improve his shot, especially his slap shot. Shot power is something that should naturally improve as he is bigger. However, 24 goals last season show that he can bury the puck in the net.
Final Thoughts
Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning says he wants to go with the best player available once Vancouver is on the board, rather than reach for a defenceman. However, Jake Bean is a terrific offensive defenceman and there are plenty of reasons to like him.
Jakob Chychrun, Olli Juolevi and Mikhail Sergachev are the top-ranked defencemen in most draft rankings. However, a case can be made for Charles McAvoy and Jake Bean as well.
Next: Sean Day 2016 NHL Draft Profile
If the Canucks fall out of the top five and decide they really, really like Bean — and there are lots of reasons to do so — they could decide to either reach for him or trade down. For example, if Vancouver got the seventh-overall pick, they might be able to trade down to 10th and grab another top-50 pick plus Bean.
Lots of ifs here, but it is a legitimate possibility.