Carolina completed their second somewhat vexing trade of the week on Friday. Earlier, they shipped off Alex Nedeljkovic to Detroit for a mid-round pick and the rights to Jonathan Bernier. Not exactly what Carolina fans were hoping for, I think, for a goalie who'd gone through their system and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy.

The second vexing trade is as follows: Jake Bean to Columbus for a second-round pick in this year's draft. I say it's vexing because Bean was just like Nedeljkovic: drafted by Carolina, spent multiple seasons in the minors, was a piece of the division-winning team this year, and then was traded for a non-first round pick. Bean went 13^th overall five years ago, had 92 points in 129 games over two years in the AHL, was a regular for most of this year in the NHL, and just turned 23 last month. That gets only a second-round pick? And why even trade him? It seems they just want to clear any cap space and load up for a playoff run.

Anyway, Bean did struggle this year defensively, by most any metrics available. Again, he was in his rookie season, but he struggled defending the blue line, being well below average. But he was average by primary shot assists (passes leading to teammate shots) and well above average in shots per 60 minutes. There were some good offensive flashes from him this year, and there was a reason he was on the second PP unit for most of the season. They trusted him, along with Brett Pesce, to handle those duties as a rookie. Whatever we think of him, that means something.

This is a great bet by Columbus. Bean has the pedigree, great performance in the minors, and was no worse than average as a rookie. Even being an average defenceman at his stage in his career is a good start.

With guys like Boqvist and Werenski around, though, this is bad news for his fantasy value. Without injuries, Bean has no chance at regular PP1 minutes and depending on their setups, he may not have consistent PP2 minutes. Combine that with being a young player on a team that may not score a lot, and the points are going to be tough to come by. If he's playing 17-18 minutes a night on a bottom-5 scoring team with secondary PP minutes, well, there just isn't much here for fantasy.

It's a question of what Columbus looks like. It is a long offseason, they do have some scorers, and they have a new coach (and hopefully a new philosophy). Bean won't be worth drafting in most fantasy leagues this year but he'll have a chance to work up to top-4 minutes very soon, and it's up to him to hold onto those minutes.

We have to imagine a lot more moves coming from Carolina, so we're not sure what exactly the blue line will look like. For now, this is good news for Brady Skjei, who could slide up to the PP2 role. Does this mean Jake Gardiner is fully healthy again?

Who this helps

Brady Skjei

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Jake Gardiner

Who this hurts

Jake Bean

Scott Harrington