Nashville Predators: Looking Ahead at a New Contract For Tanner Jeannot

It looks like the Nashville Predators have a clear fan-favorite player for several years to come. Tanner Jeannot, who made his mark in his first NHL game, and is continuing to be a force and show how valuable he is to this team’s identity.

Jeannot’s evolution as an NHL player is awe inspiring. The type of player he is, he is excelling in other areas of the game and is very much in the race for the Calder Trophy.

The Nashville Predators have found a gem in Jeannot, with undrafted players such as him being so rare to come by. He hasn’t taken the easy route, but he’s definitely earned himself quite the pay raise on his next contract.

Jeannot is on the books for this year and next year at a cheap price of $800K, but we know he’s worth much more than that. And this coming offseason, General Manager David Poile will have the opportunity to reward his budding star and fan-favorite.

 Jeannot should get long-term contract with Nashville Predators

Let’s begin by saying that signing Jeannot to a contract extension is nowhere near Poile’s biggest priority currently, as he will likely not even think about it until after the situation with Filip Forsberg is resolved.

But as always, it is never too early to start thinking about what future contracts might look like for your key players, and it would not hurt to think about what they might owe Jeannot.

Jeannot is known as a bruising and physical forward, but there is so much more to his game. He is a useful offensive piece, as he’s always getting in front of the net front to create scoring chances.

On that note, Jeannot has recorded 12 goals and 11 assists in 38 games played this season. Keep in mind that this is with him being on the bottom-six and not primarily being used in offensive situations like the other top rookies.

It’s not even just about Jeannot getting points and doing so in front of the goal, but that he is a skilled skater and has the ability to blow by defenders when he has the puck on his stick.

If you are ever looking for someone who embodies the term “power forward” in hockey, Jeannot is that in every way.

A prospective Jeannot contract extension

As far as the length of his next contract goes, five or six years is what Poile should be willing to offer. We may have less than a year’s worth of tape on Jeannot, but everything he has shown illustrates that he’s well worth the investment.

If Poile is looking to build a culture of trust and commitment to his players, he has to be willing to trust that Jeannot can keep up his level of play. There should be little doubt that he can do that, and if anything else, he could get even better.

When it gets to how much the Predators should actually pay Jeannot, it gets fairly difficult.

Jeannot’s point totals and the fact that he plays in the bottom-six suggests that he shouldn’t get paid very much, but when you think about the fact that he is in the Calder Trophy race — and yes, that is a fact right now — Poile should be prepared to set aside some decent money for him.

Not that Jeannot will get $8M per year or even close to it, but he will surely get more than a normal bottom-six player deal.

Ultimately, $4M-$6M per year is what we should expect him to get. He likely (or at least ideally) would be on the middle to lower side of that price range, but either way, the Predators will have to pay more than just pocket change in order to keep him.

It should be noted that it is not a guarantee that a deal is done this offseason, because Jeannot still has next year on his current contract and will only be a restricted free agent at its conclusion. But Poile will at least have to start negotiations this offseason, because if Jeannot continues to improve, his price will go up even more.