Another two Tampa Bay Rays players free to leave…
The Lightning paid a hefty price to acquire forward Tanner Jeannot near the 2023 trade deadline, projecting him to be a key piece of their young core moving forward.
Now, Jeannot’s name is being bandied about as one that is drawing trade interest as the Lightning look to create salary-cap space to re-sign captain Steven Stamkos and complete a roster that currently has just 18 players, including 10 forwards, under NHL contracts.
There are no concrete reports saying the Lightning plan to trade Jeannot. But Jeannot, who turned 27 Wednesday, hasn’t provided the complementary scoring they had hoped for when general manager Julien BriseBois acquired him a season after he scored 24 goals as a rookie. Jeannot has scored just seven even-strength goals in 75 games with Tampa Bay.
While he arguably is one of the game’s top fighters and enforcers, Jeannot hasn’t been on the ice enough to make the impact the Lightning have expected. He has missed 30 of his 105 regular-season games with Tampa Bay due to injury, including 25 in a 26-game stretch in the second half of this season.
He returned to play in 13 of the final 15 regular-season games but produced just a goal and an assist while averaging 10:41 of ice time. With the Lightning down a game in their first-round playoff series against the Panthers, Jeannot was a healthy scratch for Game 2 after delivering just three hits during a Game 1 in which his team had 60. In a physical series, Jeannot — Tampa Bay’s hits leader — wasn’t a noticeable physical factor.
It could be argued that injuries haven’t allowed Jeannot to show his true worth. But his $2.665 million cap hit for next season — he can be an unrestricted free agent after 2024-25 — stands out as one the Lightning could move to make room for Stamkos and others.
