Tanner Jeannot likely to rejoin Lightning lineup for Game 2 vs. Maple Leafs

Credit: Tanner Jeannot (© Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)

The man worth five draft picks appears poised to play his first postseason game as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night.

Bruising winger Tanner Jeannot, who has not played since April 6 due to a lower-body injury, is likely to suit up for Game 2 of the Lightning’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Speaking to media Thursday, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, “There’s lots of indication he’ll hopefully be in tonight.”

Jeannot injured his leg two weeks ago in a game against the New York Islanders, and his then-ominous projected recovery timeline sounded much longer than two weeks. He’ll be back just in time to replace injured bottom-six forward Mikey Eyssimont, who was injured on a hit from Jake McCabe in Game 1.

Jeannot, 25, was the focal point of an instantly infamous trade between the Bolts and Nashville Predators Feb. 26. The Lightning paid handsomely for a player who had five goals in 56 games at the time, surrendering a 2025 (top-10 protected) first-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round pick, a 2023 fifth-round pick and Callan Foote to Nashville. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois was in full win-now mode and decided it was worth the price in hopes of Jeannot rediscovering the form that made him a 24-goal scorer in 2021-22, his rookie season, placing seventh in the Calder Trophy vote.

Early on in his Tampa tenure, Jeannot has not moved the needle, picking up a single goal in 20 games while playing just 11:55 per night. Most concerning are the 20 shots in those 20 games, including a staggering 12 contests with Tampa in which he failed to record a single shot on goal.

But the Lightning acquired Jeannot for trench warfare, a.k.a the Stanley Cup playoffs, where his beastly physical game should translate well. He doled out a whopping 290 hits in the regular season, fourth among all NHL forwards, so the Leafs will have to keep their heads up in Game 2 if Jeannot is ready to go.