NHL Free Agency: 2 Reasons Revealed for Bruins' Shocking Overpay for Tanner Jeannot
There were some eyebrows raised around the league last week when the Boston Bruins signed unrestricted free agent Tanner Jeannot to a five-year, $17 million deal ($3.4 million AAV). After all, he was projected by AFP Analytics to be in line for a two-year, $1.4 million AAV.
As insider Elliotte Friedman, on his 32 Thoughts podcast, said: "There were people (going) like, 'What??'"
Why the Bruins gave Tanner Jeannot a five-year deal
But he says there were two key factors that led to the shocking deal, starting with what sounds like... the Bruins panicked when they realized what his market was:
The one thing that I think happened with Boston was I heard that they were like 10 teams after this guy. Like, I heard the competition for Jeannot was fierce... I think there were a lot of teams after him... I think there were a ton of teams after him. There's not a lot of guys like him.
Indeed, Jeannot is about as physical as they come, as the 6'2", 220-pound enforcer handed out 211 hits in just 67 games, while averaging a mere 11:01 of ice time on the Los Angeles Kings' fourth line.
The second reason that Friedman revealed, was more about the spillover effect his impact would have on the Boston lineup:
Last year, I felt at times... they wanted (Nikita) Zadorov just to play hockey. I think they felt that Zadorov was fighting too much or going after guys too much. They're still not a big team... They brought Jeannot in to be a little bigger, a little meaner, so Zadorov didn't have to do this stuff as much.
Jeannot had a sensational rookie season in 2021-22 with 24 goals and 41 points, while handing out a whopping 318 hits. He's never been able to recapture that offensive output, scoring in single digits every season since (he had 7 goals and 13 points this past season in LA). But he's still able to deliver the punishment on the physical side of the game.
He'll now try to re-establish the 'Big, Bad Bruins' reputation in Boston.
Photo: © Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images