Meet Your New Bruins: Tanner Jeannot

It was not the smoothest of transitions to professional hockey, though. He struggled in 2018-19 playing with the Milwaukee Admirals in the American Hockey League (AHL) and even spent three games the following season playing in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades.

In 2020-21, Jeannot became one of the few players to appear in all three North American leagues in one season. He had five games with the Everblades, 13 games with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL where he wore the ‘A,’ and finally, he made his NHL debut with the Predators on March 2, 2021, against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Finding His NHL Footing

During his first full season in the NHL, Jeannot had a breakout year, registering 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games in 2021-22. He led all rookies in goals that season, beating out names like Trevor Zegras, Cole Caulfield, and Seth Jarvis. So far, his rookie season has also been his best NHL season. He took a step backward in the following season on a struggling Predators team, but was still one of the big names of the 2023 Trade Deadline, eventually getting traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Even though he has not been able to match his points from his rookie season, Jeannot began to make a name for himself as a hard-hitting, physical player. There was, and still is to some extent, hope he could be the next Tom Wilson, a great physical player who can also put up a big chunk of points. Unfortunately, after the 2021-22 season, he has not hit more than 19 points in a season. 

Jeannot joined the Lightning at the 2023 Trade Deadline and spent the entire 2023-24 season with the organization where he had 14 points in 55 games. He was subsequently traded at the 2024 NHL Draft to the Los Angeles Kings for the 2024-25 season where he appeared in 67 games, putting up 13 points. He was limited to just 67 games due to a three-game suspension for a hit to Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser and a groin injury that saw him missing the end of the regular season and their playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Kings were reportedly interested in exploring an extension with Jeannot. He ticked boxes for a team that was trying to get more physical, but conversations obviously fell apart, and I’m almost certain the five-year deal that the Bruins offered was more than LA was offering.

What Jeannot Brings to the Bruins

As the saying goes, madness is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. This is certainly an interesting signing from Sweeney. This is not a knock on Jeannot at all, who is a solid NHL power forward. With the cap supposed to go up significantly the next few seasons, the AAV on the deal isn’t that bad either (though the term is a bit of a head-scratcher). But, as the biggest addition they’ve brought in so far, he does not really address the main issue for the Bruins, which is scoring. David Pastrnak and Geekie accounted for a little over 34% of the team’s goals in 2024-25. When adding in Brad Marchand’s 21 goals before his trade to the Florida Panthers, that jumps up to 43%. With nearly half of the team’s goals coming from three players, and one of them is not with the organization anymore, it clearly indicates some help is needed with scoring above all else.

Now, there weren’t many names available that could provide the scoring help that the Bruins need, but throwing money at a bunch of middle-six to bottom-six guys and hoping one of them contributes more offense than expected isn’t necessarily the solution either. Unlike some of the other names brought in this free agency so far who are also more physical style players than scorers, there is more potential upside with Jeannot, which is why he got the longer and bigger contract. He is only three seasons removed from a 24-goal season in 2021-22. The problem is that he hasn’t gotten over 10 goals in a season since. 

There are other really solid aspects to his game, particularly the physicality. In the last five seasons, he’s landed 1,083 hits, trailing only Brady Tkachuk, Garnet Hathaway, and Keegan Kolesar. With all the young players the Bruins have and should be incorporating into the lineup next season, there is solid logic to bring in a bruiser to help create space for those guys to grow and develop.

But this is not the first time Sweeney has done that. In fact, it seems like every other season the GM is bringing in a guy like Jeannot to bring toughness to the offense while doing the minimum to address the lingering scoring issues. He also has a track record of sidelining young talent for players like this, and it has backfired season after season as the Bruins have struggled to consistently find the back of the net in order to compete for a Stanley Cup. This story has played out before, and it feels like everyone already knows the ending, which has contributed to the healthy dose of skepticism surrounding this signing throughout the media.

Utilized the right way, Jeannot can be a solid addition. He brings a track record of leadership, physicality that makes him a really desirable guy to have around for the development of young talent and a playoff push (if the team can get there in the first place), and if he finds his scoring touch again, he could take people by surprise. The issues are not with him as a player, but with Sweeney as a GM, prioritizing and locking up Jeannot for five seasons in addition to bringing in similar type players like Sean Kuraly and Mikey Eyssimont, potentially putting at risk the development and opportunities for the young talent they traded away a good chunk of the roster for just a few months ago.