Saturday’s trade of Nino Niederreiter to Winnipeg indicated that the Predators were set to be sellers at the trade deadline. One name that appears to be in play now is winger Tanner Jeannot as the team announced (Twitter link) that he won’t play tonight against Arizona for trade-related reasons.
Of course, as we’ve seen with how things have played out with Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, Blue Jackets blueliner Vladislav Gavrikov, and even Canucks rearguard Luke Schenn, receiving this designation does not mean that a trade is imminent. Instead, it could be merely protecting against the risk of him being injured with the deadline now just a few days away. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicates (Twitter link) that the Lightning have made a pitch for Jeannot although it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where he’ll wind up.
Just a few months ago, the idea of Nashville even considering the possibility of moving Jeannot would have been unthinkable. Here’s a 25-year-old player whose rookie season was quite impressive as he picked up 24 goals and 17 assists in 2021-22 along with 318 hits, becoming a legitimate power forward in the process. That enabled him to finish seventh in Calder Trophy voting and it appears that the Preds had another part of their long-term core in place.
However, things haven’t gone anywhere near as well this time around. This season, Jeannot has just five goals and nine assists in 56 games even though his playing time (15:05 per game) is pretty close to where it was a year ago (15:58). The physicality is still there (213 hits) but instead of being a top-six producer, Jeannot’s stats are closer to that of an energetic fourth liner.
Earlier this month, the Predators had started discussions on a contract extension but clearly, those haven’t led anywhere just yet. Now, it appears that they’re circling back to teams that showed interest in him previously with the idea of moving him while his value should still be high. He’ll be affordable on just about everyone’s salary cap as he carries an AAV of just $800K this season. He’ll be owed a qualifying offer of just under $900K but with salary arbitration eligibility this summer, he’s in line for a significant raise even with his struggles this season. In the meantime, it appears as if there’s a chance that someone will be adding an intriguing power forward to their squad in the coming days.
To my esteemed colleague, @Gbear—Does it look like GMDP is indeed trying to “fire the team”, rather than the guy who is actually responsible for the mess? ;)
@Mac – It appears someone in ownership decided Poile is responsible for this. Enter Trotzy to clean up this mess.
@Gbear—I realized after the fact that Barry was coming in with a truckload of mops and buckets. (Timing is everything!) This task should be even more daunting than merely getting the Isles out of the ditch and back into being in the playoff discussion. I’d love to see him get the group into the top 3 of the division next year. That’d be a hoot. He could look at Poile and say, “See, it really isn’t that hard, after all!” :)
@Mac – We can only hope that Trotz isn’t a Poile clone. My fear is he will be, but we’ll have to wait and see.
I’m perplexed at why they’re apparently ripping the team apart like this when they’re really not that far out of a playoff spot. These trades could be made in the off-season if need be. Something odd going on here.
@Gbear—It’s as though they’ve heard so many fans screaming “BLOW IT UP!” and are trying to do just that. Over the past few games, they have shown the ability to put up big numbers and win, and they do have a good stretch coming up that could help narrow the gap to a wild card spot. WPG is scuffling a bit and with NSH having 3 games in hand and some winnable games, they could make it uncomfortable for The Peg. They really need to make hay, as they will have a buzz saw to deal with after the soft games, so banking points will be critical if they want to make a bit of a run for the playoffs. Hey, maybe Hynes *won’t* get in the way this time. Ha! Good one, Randy! :)
@Mac – How ironic it would be if the Jets fall out of a playoff spot after Nino got traded to what was considered a contender?! Wish better for El Nino, was frankly my favorite Pred this season.
But there does seem to be this bi-polar fanbase of either go all in or blow it all up. I’m of the opinion that had Hynes figured out how to properly utilize Tolvanen as well as Tomasino, the Preds would be a playoff team right now. I truly hope Trotz goes in a different direction with the HC next season.
Gbear – I have to agree on all points, there. Niederreiter impressed me even more when he was talking to Marek & Elliotte in the pre-season. I believe he said he chose Nashville and wanted to sign as quickly as possible. Sounds like someone knows that Cap Cannibals are a real thing, eh?
@Mac – That’s the disappointing part of all this. You have a player who wanted to be on a certain team and they made no attempt to tweak the roster in order to make it a playoff caliber team. Just 3 or 4 more wins this season and this tear down doesn’t happen. At least not until the off-season.
Feels like they are selling low on Jeannot.
Seriously? They got a young defenseman and a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Jeannot has 15 pts this year in 50 games. Pretty sure they got more for Jeannot than SJ did for Timo Meier
would love this guy if I was Edmonton or Toronto. a banger who can play 3rd line/4th line minutes and has some offensive skill. mainly though this is a guy you want who finishes his check everytime
NYR
I wish
Oilers should ask for Jeannot and fabbro for Puljujarvi and 2nd rnd pick.
It would take more than that from Edmonton. Puljurjarvi isn’t good enough to get Jeannot straight up, let alone with Fabbro in the deal.
deal is to TB for multiple picks and foote
lel
Not really sure why Nashville is looking to trade Jeannot. He is very affordable. So what if you haven’t agreed to an extension yet. His qualifying offer is only $900,000. That’s cheap. Give him a QO & continue to work on a longer term deal. He’s the type of player Nashville should be keeping as they try to reshape the roster.
Not if Jeannot goes to salary arbitration. Truth is, this seasons Jeannot is much closer to who he is than last seasons version. Preds would be better off bringing back Mathieu Oliver (the Biloxi Bull) to fill Jeannot’s energy role next season on the cheap and use their money on scoring help.
I don’t think last season or this season is what Jeannot is. I think he is somewhere in the middle. He’s a lot better player than Olivier. Jeannot has some offensive ability. Olivier doesn’t. If they move on from Jeannot, Olivier is not the answer to replace him.
Oliver has the same amount of goals as Jeannot does this season. But no, Oliver isn’t as versatile as Jeannot is, but he can do the energy/fighting thing for under a million on the cap hit. Jeannot will cost at least what Trenin got in arbitration last summer.
Tampa
huge package.
with a rebuild forthcoming in Nashville, no wonder they made this trade. tons of future assets
As much as I hated the Niederreiter trade, this is an enormous haul they got for Jeannot. Bolts are crazy to give up that much for him.
His age and cheap contract is why the cost was so high. Same with Hagel.
The five picks AND Cal Foote is insane for him. And people thought Nashville would sell low on him
Ridiculous return. Like …overkill
Dang, eager to hear the details!
Flabbergasted at the number of picks plus Foote for TJ.
Maybe this was a payback for the Preds taking McDonough’s contract off their hands last summer.