Tanner Jeannot, a restricted free-agent forward brought in during last season in a trade with the Nashville Predators, signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
The deal carries an average annual value of $2.665 million, Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois announced in a statement, and assures the Lightning offense another rough-and-tumble winger who may see a spike in production now that he’ll have a full season to work in coach Jon Cooper’s system.
In February, the Predators sent Jeannot, 26, to the Lightning in exchange for a hefty package that included defenseman Cal Foote, their third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks in 2023, a second-round pick in 2024 and a protected 2025 first-round pick.
In 20 regular-season games with the Lightning, Jeannot had just one goal and four points while blocking 11 shots and dishing out 77 hits. In the playoffs, during a Round 1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jeannot delivered 16 hits and blocked two shots in three games.
But more will be expected from a player who had a standout second season in Nashville. After appearing in 15 games in the 2020-21 campaign, Jeannot had 24 goals and 41 points a season later, racking up 130 minutes in penalties. He averaged 15:59 time on the ice, and authored five game-winning goals.
When he’s on his game, he plays larger than his 6-foot-2, 208-pound frame, and can eat up time on a team’s short-handed unit. He did struggle with injuries in his Tampa Bay debut season, however, and missed four of the seven playoff games vs. Toronto.
“It has been an adjustment, just coming into a new area and new team,” he told reporters after the trade. “Obviously, there’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve to go along with that. The guys have been really great. They’ve been really welcoming. The coaches have been really great as well, just trying to get me up to speed on everything and all the systems.”
All told with Nashville and Tampa Bay, he finished with six goals and 18 points last season.