The Lightning add Tanner Jeannot, What it Means for the Maple Leafs in their Likely Playoff Encounter
Jeannot #Jeannot
After the Toronto Maple Leafs made a big move to improve their forward depth, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally entered the NHL Trade deadline chat by adding Tanner Jeannot.
SEATTLE — Shortly after the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled off a trade with the Nashville Predators to pick up 6’2″ physical forward Tanner Jeannot.
How badly did the Lightning want him? Very.
Tampa surrendered five draft picks, including a top-10 lottery-protected first-round pick in 2025 and defensive prospect Cal Foote just to get Jeannot, someone who is as difficult to play against as he is talented with his stick.
Last week, the Maple Leafs made a big splash in the trade market by acquiring centers Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues. The latter of the two was seen as a much-needed acquisition to bolster the identity of the team’s bottom-six forward group after Toronto was seemingly pushed around by the Lightning during the 2022 playoffs.
Jeannot is quite the response to what the Leafs pulled off and it shows that Tampa is not afraid to continue to deal with significant draft capital to get a piece they feel they are missing.
The 25-year-old Jeannot had 24 goals and 17 assists in 81 games in his first full season in the NHL during 2021-22. He finished seventh in voting for the Calder Trophy, handed out annually to the NHL’s rookie of the year.
This season, has been a bit of a different story. Jeannot has just five goals in 56 games this season. His shooting percentage of 5.7 is way below the 19.4 percent he accomplished last season.
Clearly, the Lightning feel they bring Jeannot back to the performance he showed in the 2021-22 season. He has all the attributes of a player that can thrive in the playoffs and appears to fit right in on Tampa’s third line on the right wing.
Jeannot is a restricted free agent at the end of the season, so it’s likely Tampa will want to figure out a long-term extension with Jeannot. It seems like the perfect fit for the Lightning, who look identical to the team that defeated the Maple Leafs last year. Tampa defeated Toronto in seven games and Lightning forward Nick Paul had a big game scoring both of Tampa’s goals in the deciding seventh game.
Like Jeannot, Paul was acquired around the NHL trade deadline, although the cost wasn’t nearly as steep. The Ottawa Senators settled for Mathieu Joseph and a fourth-round pick in 2024.
But Tampa has consistently dealt their first-round selections for players they feel can contribute for the team on a multi-season basis.
With just days to go until the deadline, it’s believed Toronto has shifted their focus to adding a defenseman, although it’d be interesting to see if the Leafs respond at all to the acquisition.
As big as this move is for Tampa, it doesn’t necessarily mean Toronto’s bottom six will get pushed around again. The Leafs can do themselves a favor by having their top players take a step foward.
One thing is certain, with 85 penalty minutes in 56 games this season, the Maple Leaf/Lightning first-round series is destined to be punchy.