Before last year’s deadline, the Lightning pulled off one of the most controversial trades in recent memory by unloading five draft picks and defense prospect Callan Foote to acquire middle-six winger Tanner Jeannot from the Predators. Now, after an extremely underwhelming tenure in Tampa, he appears to be on the block again, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on “32 Thoughts: The Podcast” on Monday.
Friedman called him “a name to watch” in the coming weeks as the Lightning aim to up their available cap space in an effort to keep captain Steven Stamkos from reaching unrestricted free agency. He didn’t firmly name any clubs as being connected to Jeannot thus far. However, he did report that multiple interested parties believe his 24-goal campaign in Nashville two years ago is more representative of his long-term ceiling than his fourth-line caliber play in Tampa. He and “32 Thoughts” cohost Jeff Marek named the Flames as a speculative trade destination but stopped short of saying they have an interest in Jeannot.
The 6’2″, 207-lb power forward never seemed to gel with the Bolts, only scoring a goal and three assists in 20 games down the stretch after his acquisition in 2022-23. He struggled with injuries in their first-round loss to the Maple Leafs, too, only making three appearances with no points and a -2 rating.
That limited his value when he was up for a new contract last summer – a bit of a blessing for the Lightning, who have been strapped for salary cap space throughout most of their recent championship contention window. A restricted free agent at the time, he inked a two-year, $5.33MM deal. He has a 16-team no-trade list that kicks in on July 1, something that will ramp up their efforts to move him by the 2024 NHL Draft at the end of next month if general manager Julien BriseBois places him on the block in earnest.
Trading Jeannot without taking any NHL roster players back would open up an additional $2.665MM in cap space for Tampa, bringing their total projected cap space next season up to $7.7MM. That’s likely enough space to re-sign Stamkos if he takes a realistic discount. Expecting him to take closer to $4MM per season extension, a necessity with their current cap situation, undercuts his market value by roughly 50 percent.
Even if teams are optimistic about Jeannot rebounding back to 20-goal, 40-point form, his trade value won’t be high. He posted just seven goals and 14 points with a -10 rating in 55 games this season and is entering the final season of his contract while being a UFA upon expiry. That won’t be a major concern for BriseBois, though, who’s moving him as a pure cap dump. The club was in a similar situation two offseasons ago with defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who they re-acquired last week, dealing him to the Preds for a pair of minor-league players.
Jeannot turns 27 on Wednesday. An undrafted free agent signing by Nashville in 2018, he has 42 goals, 38 assists, 80 points, a -9 rating, and 314 PIMs in 227 career games since making his debut in 2021.
