The Mississauga Steelheads have acquired Justin Bean from the Belleville Bulls in exchange for a 7th round pick in the 2015 OHL draft. With the Steelheads dealing Greg Di Tomaso as part of the Jimmy Lodge deal and losing Jared Walsh to a suspected shoulder injury last weekend, the Steelheads became very thin on the backend very quickly. While this move was made largely out of necessity, Bean is a quality depth defenseman at the OHL level. Bean was reassigned to the Belleville Bulls tier 2 Jr. A affiliate the Wellington Dukes after training camp this season, despite 44 games with the Bulls last Season. Sunday’s5-1 win over the Peterborough Petes was Bean’s first taste of OHL action this season.

Bean, the Pickering, Ontario native, was originally selected by the Belleville Bulls in the 9th round, 178th overall in the 2013 OHL draft out of the Uxbridge Bruins Jr. C program. Bean was passed over in the 2012 OHL draft, which was his draft year, but after a strong showing with the Uxbridge Bruins, the Belleville Bulls deemed it necessary to use a draft selection on him in the 2013 draft. Bean played his Minor Midget AAA season with the Ajax-Pickering Raiders in 2011-2012, where he appeared in 28 games, scoring 1 goal & 7 assists for 8 points. 2012-2013, his first of junior eligibility was spent with the Uxbridge Bruins of the COJCHL (Central Ontario Jr. C Hockey League) where he appeared in 40 games, tallying 8 goals and 24 assists for 32 points. In 2013-2014, Bean some what shockingly made the Belleville Bulls out of training camp. While he did toil with the Wellington Dukes tier 2 Jr. A team for 10 games, he spent the majority of the season with the Belleville Bulls, where he appeared in 44 games, scoring 1 goal and adding 11 assists for 12 points. This season, through 13 games with the Wellington Dukes of the OJHL Bean had recorded 4 goals & 6 assists for 10 points, to go along with 8 penalty minutes.

With Steelheads defenseman Nick Zottl’s name floating around the trade market, expect Bean to be up with Steelheads for the remainder of the season.