Jake Bean knew a trade was coming.
Ever since the Calgary Hitmen traded away Matteo Gennaro and Beck Malenstyn in November, the writing had been on the wall for the team’s star defenceman.
So Bean wasn’t surprised when he returned to Calgary on Saturday after winning a gold medal with the Canadian world junior team and was informed that he’d been dealt by the Hitmen to the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans.
“It’s kinda something that was a little bit inevitable, that was going to happen,” Bean said Sunday from the Saddledome. “For sure once we moved Beck and Geno, it was kind of a 100% thing.
“I feel very fortunate, I’m so fortunate for my time here.”
A trade might have been expected, but that won’t make leaving Calgary easy for Bean, who was born and raised in the city and got choked-up repeatedly as he spoke with the local media.
The Hitmen organization has been Bean’s home for four years now, after all, and the team is where he blossomed from being an unheralded 15-year-old who was overlooked in the WHL Bantam Draft into the 13th overall selection by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
His progression made him the best player available going into Wednesday’s WHL trade deadline, and Hitmen GM Jeff Chynoweth acknowledged the Hitmen had fielded calls from at least eight potential suitors.
“I think as we went on, we were quite adamant about what we wanted to get for Jake and we weren’t wavering from that,” Chynoweth said. “We think he’s the premiere player, defensively, in the Western Hockey League, and we were sticking to our guns.”
That approach yielded the Hitmen a hefty return for Bean from the Americans.
The team added 17-year-old forward Carson Focht, 18-year-old defenceman Dakota Krebs, a first-round draft pick in 2019 and second-round selections in the 2018 and 2020 WHL Bantam Drafts.
It’s a nice haul that includes players who are ready to contribute this season, just like the November trade that brought Conner Chaulk, Riley Stotts and Dom Schmiemann to Calgary for Malenstyn and Gennaro.
Yes, the Hitmen got younger with both trades and gave up proven, veteran players, but it would be inaccurate to say the team is tanking.
“The picks were important, but the bigger thing for us is we’re trying to fast-track here a little bit of a rebuild,” Chynoweth said. “We’re trying to create some more depth with our team. There’s no quick fixes in this league, but to acquire players like that (Stotts and Focht) is a starting point.
“I said it in November, and I’ll say it again today. We’re five points out of a playoff spot today. Thankfully, we play in the worst division in the Western Hockey League or we wouldn’t even be having this discussion, but I really believe that was a big win (Saturday night over the Lethbridge Hurricanes) with everything going on.”
For Bean, the trade means he’ll have a shot at chasing down a WHL championship with an Americans team that is sitting third in the U.S. division but is only two points back of the first-place Portland Winterhawks – with a game in hand.
It’s almost certain that he’ll earn a spot next season with the NHL’s Hurricanes – or at least somewhere in the organization – so his time in Washington State won’t last long, although after spending the first 19 years of his life living at home with his parents, it should give him a preview of what his future in the NHL holds.
“It’s just for a couple months, but it’ll be good to maybe get out of the home and give my mom a little taste of what it’ll be like next year,” Bean added.