Fifteen games have passed since the Tampa Bay Lightning traded for Tanner Jeannot. Since then, he has accumulated three assists in over 184 minutes of ice-time and played on a variety of line combinations as the team attempts to find where he best fits into the lineup.
Jeannot became the fifth notable forward acquired ahead of the trade deadline since the Lightning began their run of three Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2020. The Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow trades have been a template for contenders around the league since, and Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul fortified the team last year before falling short in the Stanley Cup Final.
So now, fifteen games into Jeannot’s tenure, how does he compare to the previous four’s first fifteen games? To answer that we will look at a variety of stats.
First, we will look at headline scoring numbers, then some stats that indicate how difficult of a player he has been to play against and end with even strength Corsi and expected goals percentages with relative impact.
Tanner Jeannot
- 15 GP | 0 Goals | 3 Assists | 3 Points | 12:18 TOI/GP
- 5:7 Takeaways-Giveaways | 59 Hits | 9 Shots Blocked | 5 Penalties Drawn
- 2.93 Shots/60 | 48.60 CF% (-6.28 Rel) | 45.55 xGF% (-5.10 Rel)
Coleman and Goodrow did not play fifteen games before the 2020 playoffs due to the league shutdown, but their stats up until are included.
2020 Additions
Blake Coleman
- 9 GP | 0 Goals | 1 Assist | 1 Point | 14:42 TOI/GP
- 6:2 Takeaways-Giveaways | 25 Hits | 6 Shots Blocked | 3 Penalties Drawn
- 8.16 Shots/60 | 49.74 CF% (-1.25 Rel) | 57.35 xGF% (+0.62 Rel)
Barclay Goodrow
- 8 GP | 0 Goals | 2 Assists | 2 Points | 12:26 TOI/GP
- 4:1 Takeaways-Giveaways | 22 Hits | 3 Shots Blocked | 5 Penalties Drawn
- 4.82 Shots/60 | 47.01 CF% (-5.10 Rel) | 48.04 xGF% (-0.13 Rel)
2022 Additions
Brandon Hagel
- 15 GP | 3 Goals | 0 Assists | 3 Points | 12:47 TOI/GP
- 7:4 Takeaways-Giveaways | 29 Hits | 2 Shots Blocked | 2 Penalties Drawn
- 5.63 Shots/60 | 54.74 CF% (+2.52 Rel) | 60.66 xGF% (+11.53 Rel)
Nick Paul
- 15 GP | 3 Goals | 6 Assists | 9 Points | 13:25TOI/GP
- 7:5 Takeaways-Giveaways | 35 Hits | 10 Shots Blocked | 4 Penalties Drawn
- 8.34 Shots/60 | 51.14 CF% (-2.35 Rel) | 57.77 xGF% (+6.46 Rel)
Right off the bat we see that Jeannot’s scoring, or lack thereof, is not dissimilar to Coleman and Goodrow as all three struggled to find the back of the net. However, Hagel and Paul were relatively quick to find their scoring touch, with Paul also chipping in with six assists to make him the overall scoring leader of the five.
The numbers Jeannot has differentiated himself in are those that would make him a perceived tougher player for opponents to play against. With 59 hits, he by far has been the most physical of the group and has done a good job putting his body on the line to defend the net and force opponents into taking penalties. However, he is the only one of the group that gave up the puck to opponents more often than he took it away — a potentially concerning trend, if continued.
Perhaps Jeannot’s biggest weakness has been his creation of shots and scoring chances as his shots per 60 is nearly two shots less than the next closest (Goodrow) and he has been a considerable drag on the team’s numbers, when on the ice, for both Corsi and expected goals.
Some of that struggle can likely be attributed to Jeannot’s tour through the lineup with multiple line combinations, but that is no different than what the others were subjected to. Most recently, we have seen him paired with Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli, and just last game he was with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Corey Perry on the fourth line — the line combo Vlad Namestnikov was part of prior to his trade.
With eight games remaining, Jeannot and the Lightning will need to find where he best fits in the lineup. Whether that is playing up as high as the second line or reinforcing the bottom-six as a physical presence. He will not have the luxury of a second training camp that Coleman and Goodrow had, so we will hopefully have some clarity soon.
Data: Natural Stat Trick