The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here
Also, go to thn.com/free to subscribe.
In More Ways Than One - Sep. 5, 2025 - By Jared Clinton
THE QUESTION ABOUT Tanner Jeannot was always going to come. And when Bruins GM Don Sweeney stepped to the podium to address Boston’s work on the opening day of signing season, it was only minutes before the subject of Jeannot’s rookie year – and his production in the time since – was broached.
Jeannot stepped into the lineup as a relative unknown for the Nashville Predators to start the 2021-22 campaign. And in a rookie class boasting names such as Lucas Raymond, Cole Caufield and Seth Jarvis, it was Jeannot who took the NHL by surprise. He led all freshmen with 24 goals and finished with 41 points. Jeannot also garnered enough support, including nine second-place votes, to finish seventh in the Calder Trophy race.
For as much as that campaign helped cement Jeannot’s place in the NHL, though, it also became the lens through which his career has since been viewed. And the picture hasn’t always been pretty.
As a sophomore, Jeannot slumped, scoring a mere five goals and 14 points through the first two-thirds of the season. After the Tampa Bay Lightning put together a mammoth trade package, including five draft picks, to acquire Jeannot at the trade deadline in 2022-23, he returned just eight goals and 18 points in 75 games split across two seasons. And after the Bolts shipped Jeannot off to Los Angeles last summer – recouping two picks in the deal – he mustered seven goals and 13 points. In some circles, his precipitous offensive decline, especially in the wake of what seemed to be a revelatory rookie season, was a cudgel with which to beat Jeannot.
But Sweeney isn’t buying it.
That much, of course, is evidenced by the fact the Bruins inked the 28-year-old Jeannot to a five-year, $17-million contract. But Sweeney made it clear that Boston wanted Jeannot not for his past accomplishments but for his current impact. “I don’t know if he’s getting back to scoring (24) goals,” Sweeney said to reporters. “I sure hope so. Deep down, we believe he’ll bring a lot more energy to our group that we need. The physicality is there. We run through a tough division. I just think everybody gets a little taller.”
It’s what Sweeney called adding some “juice” to the lineup. And ask Jeannot about his game, and the tough-as-nails kid from Estevan, Sask., makes it clear he embraces the role. “I try to make other guys know I’m on the ice and make them feel uncomfortable,” Jeannot said. “Maybe that makes them get rid of pucks a little bit quicker or puts their teammates in a tougher spot. That tends to create more turnovers and gets the puck into my team’s hands a little bit more often.”
Where Jeannot’s scoring may have dried up, his willingness to throw the body has not. The list of players who have thrown more hits than Jeannot since his first full season is just five names long. Each of the three forwards ahead of Jeannot – Garnet Hathaway, Keegan Kolesar and Brady Tkachuk – has played at least 30 more games in that time. And as Sweeney sees it, that sandpaper is important in both the present moment and as the Bruins look ahead.
At present, the departures of Brad Marchand and Trent Frederic did little to help Boston in the physicality department. And as the Bruins begin to chart a path forward, Sweeney believes Jeannot can provide grit, guile and guidance to the next wave. “The younger skilled players that we plan to incorporate moving forward are going to need a little breathing room,” Sweeney said. “And Tanner is going to bring a lot of that. In the room itself, his leadership skills and how he prepares to play the game, that all just boils over into what we need to continue to improve upon.”
I TRY TO MAKE OTHER GUYS KNOW I’M ON THE ICE AND MAKE THEM FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE– Tanner Jeannot
If that’s the measuring stick for Jeannot, there’s no reason to believe he can’t succeed. But if there is skepticism, Jeannot can deal with that, too.
After all, before a long-term deal with an Original Six club was even the faintest dream, Jeannot made the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors as an undrafted walk-on. Jeannot didn’t hear his name called in the NHL draft, either, instead playing four years in major junior before earning an entry-level deal in Nashville. Even then, Jeannot flitted in and out of the AHL lineup, saw time in the ECHL and willed his way into the NHL.
So, sure, everyone would love to be the highlight-reel scorer or all-situations star, but Jeannot isn’t buying into any narratives about his past performance. He knows who he is right now and who he’s tried to be throughout his career. He isn’t aiming to change the way others view him. He never has. Rather, it’s to ensure nothing changes about the way teams view his new club. “When they see the Bruins coming into town, they know it’s going to be a fight,” Jeannot said. “That’s how it always has been. That’s been the Bruins’ culture. And I feel like, for me as a player, I’ve always tried to embody that type of culture.”