The Bruins have signed winger Tanner Jeannot to a five-year deal worth $3.4MM per season, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Friedman has also announced that the Bruins are nearing a contract with defenseman Jordan Harris, who played his collegiate hockey at Northeastern University. Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff reports that it’ll be a one-year, $825K agreement for Harris.
In one of the most surprising additions of the day, the Bruins have inked a long-term deal with a power forward who has disappointed greatly over the past three years. Still, there was a time when Jeannot was regarded as one of the better up-and-coming power forwards in the league. During the 2021-22 campaign, Jeannot scored 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games with the Nashville Predators, adding 318 hits.
Despite getting off to a slow start the following season, Jeannot commanded quite a haul at the following deadline. The Predators traded Jeannot to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a package including defenseman Cal Foote and five draft picks. Unfortunately, the trade immediately became a net loss for the Lightning, and Jeannot hasn’t been the same player since his breakout season.
Over the past three years, Jeannot has scored at a dismal pace compared to the 2021-22 campaign, scoring 20 goals and 45 points in 198 games between the Predators, Lightning, and Los Angeles Kings. Still, he’s maintained his physicality by throwing 712 hits in that time frame, but his shooting percentage has cratered to 9.0%.
He’s regarded as a quality defensive forward, but shouldn’t be considered for a higher role than any team’s third line, making this commitment by Boston all the more peculiar. At any rate, they’ve added considerable physicality to their bottom-six to a team whose entire brand is built around physical hockey.
Meanwhile, Harris joins the third organization of his career after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Haverhill, MA native returns home after spending the last four years with the Montreal Canadiens and Blue Jackets.
Still, he’s coming to Boston on the heels of a down season. In a depth role, Harris scored one goal and five points for Columbus in 33 games last season, averaging 11:23 of ice time per game. There is some reason for optimism, however, as Harris’s most recent season with the Canadiens saw him produce one goal and 14 points in 56 contests, when he averaged more than 17 minutes of ice time.
PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed significantly to this article.