Why the Lightning should not trade Tanner Jeannot

There have been many rumors swirling over the last week as to whether the Lightning will part ways with Tanner Jeannot this offseason. The talk first started last week when Elliot Friedman of the 32 Thoughts Podcast stated that "many teams" were interested in acquiring the Tampa forward. Rumors continued to circulate this week as it was unofficially reported that the Lightning placed Tanner Jeannot on the trade block.

It may seem slightly premature to trade Jeannot after wrapping up his first full season in Tampa Bay. In just 55 games this year, Jeannot tallied seven goals and 14 points. It has been no secret that the team and fans alike have hoped that Jeannot would regain some of the offensive prowess that he exhibited in his second season in Nashville. In 81 games, Jeannot scored 24 goals along with 41 points to finish 7th in the Calder Trophy standings.

It was that kind of production that Julien Brisebois desperately wanted when he made the move for Jeannot during the trade deadline in February of 2023. Lightning fans would like to forget the trade that sent Cal Foote along and three draft picks to the Predators in exchange for Jeannot.

Say what you want about the trade or even Jeannot's performance since being dealt. The one thing we can all agree on is that a season and a half is not nearly a fair enough time to prove oneself regardless if you're Tanner Jeannot or the Great One. One thing we can say for certain is that Jeannot was on his way to improving on his previous season's stats before the injury bug struck him. It also has to be said that a majority of that time was spent buried on the bottom six forward lines. One can't help but wonder what Jeannot's stats would've been if he were able to dedicate more of his game to scoring rather than playing an all-out physical onslaught.

In summation it would be in the best interest of the Tampa Bay Lightning to keep Tanner Jeannot in Tampa until his contract is over, while giving him one more year to prove his worth in blue and white.