Analysing Kings' Trade for Tanner Jeannot

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Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake has been a busy man in the last few weeks and he made yet another trade on the draft floor Saturday.

Early in the day, Blake sent a 2025 second-round pick and the 2024 118th overall pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Tanner Jeannot.

Jeannot is a physical bottom-six winger who, in his best season, buried 24 goals for the Nashville Predators.

Since that season, and particularly since the Lightning massively overpaid for Jeannot, the offense has fallen off a bit.

He posted 28 points in 75 games for the Lightning and didn't have the same scoring touch with just eight goals in those 75 games.

The offense will always be a sweetener with Jeannot though. You're getting him for the physical element he brings.

In that same stretch of 75 games, Jeannot threw 288 hits, including 211 in just 55 games last season. A number that would have led all Kings players and led Kings forwards by almost 100.

Jeannot's also no stranger to dropping the gloves, registering eight fights last season for the Lighting according to HockeyFights.com.

He brings that 'desire to win' element Blake highlighted in his exit interview and has some scoring upside if he can re-discover the goalscoring upside he flashed in Nashville.

Don't expect him to sniff 24 again, but he was on pace for 10 last season and looks like he could be good for around 10 goals and 20 points most seasons in addition to the physical element.

He'll likely replace Carl Grundstrom as the team's RW4, and while his shot isn't as good, Jeannot has produced more on a per-82 games basis and is more physical than Grundstrom.

The Kings need this kind of player in their lineup and this could allow them to be less reliant on Andreas Englund for the "Sheppard" role.

I like this move from Blake. Jeannot's $2.6 million cap hit is a bit rich given his limited offense but given the Kings' need for the physicality he brings, it's worth a slight overpay.

The Kings are also expected to have three forwards on the roster who make less than $1 million which offsets the price a bit.

If he has a good season the Kings can re-negotiate a more reasonable cap hit next summer too.

Jeannot won't be a star producer, but he'll give the Kings an honest, hard-to-play-against game every night. In an ideal world, he'll clean up his penalties a bit but you expect some penalty troubles with someone who plays his brand of hockey.

The Kings get tougher and are less likely to get pushed around come playoff time. This isn't a home run but I'd call it an extra-base hit from Blake.