Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign forward Tanner Jeannot to two-year contract
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed restricted free agent forward Tanner Jeannot to a two-year contract extension, the club announced Saturday evening.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the news of the impending Jeannot deal on Saturday. Jeannot’s new contract carries a $2.665 million cap hit through the end of the 2024–25 season, at which point he’ll be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Lightning originally acquired Jeannot from the Nashville Predators ahead of the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for five draft picks (including a 2025 first-round selection) and defenceman Cal Foote.
Jeannot, 26, collected six goals and 18 points in 76 games split between the Predators and Lightning during the 2022–23 regular season. He did not record a point in three games with the Lightning in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Lightning had been scheduled to go to a salary arbitration hearing with Jeannot on July 24.
HEEEEERE'S JEANNOT
We have signed restricted free agent forward Tanner Jeannot to a two-year contract worth an average annual value of $2.665 million.
📝: https://t.co/d71YjRM8S5 pic.twitter.com/gjMAHJ7mcn
Nashville originally signed Jeannot in 2018 as an undrafted free agent from the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors. The six-foot-two, 208-pound left wing notably appeared in both the ECHL and AHL in the 2020–21 season before making his NHL debut with the Predators that same year.
Jeannot emerged seemingly out of nowhere to scout 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games as a rookie with the Predators in the 2021–22 regular season, during which he also amassed 130 penalty minutes. The Estevan, Saskatchewan product finished seventh in Calder Trophy voting after his showstopping arrival on the NHL stage.
For much of his sophomore campaign, Jeannot struggled to recapture the magic he had put on display in 2021–22. He scored just five goals and saw his shooting percentage drop from 19.4 as a rookie to 5.6 in his 56 games with the Predators before being traded.
Through 176 career NHL games over parts of three seasons with the Predators and Lightning, Jeannot has collected 35 goals, 66 points, and 239 penalty minutes. He’s added two assists in 12 career playoff contests with Nashville and Tampa Bay.
With Jeannot now under contract through 2025, the Lightning have just one RFA left to sign this summer: Simon Ryfors, a five-foot-ten forward who scored 59 points in 72 games as a 25-year-old with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2022–23.