PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The Bruins are asking Tanner Jeannot to wear many hats this season.
His reputation as a heat-seeking missile on the ice is well-documented at this point, while his knack for dropping fellow combatants to the ice with a heavy right hook should ingratiate himself to the TD Garden crowd in short order.
But, the Bruins aren’t just asking the 28-year-old power forward to be the club’s go-to scrapper.
They’re looking for an established veteran who can serve as a reliable resource for a dressing room set to receive an influx of young talent — as well as a guardian on the ice when said youngsters are getting pushed around.
And for a Bruins team that ranked 27th in the NHL in goals scored per game last season (2.71), Boston is holding out hope that Jeannot can re-kindle the scoring touch that saw him light the lamp 24 times during the 2021-22 season.
It’s a sizable ask, one evidenced by the five-year, $17 million contract that the Bruins handed him this offseason.
But, with training camp set to commence later this week, Jeannot believes his game can complement a retooling Bruins roster in a variety of ways.
“I just think I’m going to come in and be myself,” Jeannot said last week at the Boston Bruins Foundation’s golf tournament in Plymouth. “I want to just help out as much as I can with being a leader to some of the younger guys. And just drawing from that experience that I’ve had — just kind of moving around, being in some different organizations and seeing how things work throughout my career so far.
“And I’m going to do that. I want to do everything I can and bring everything I can to this organization.”
As the Bruins strive to field a competitive product out on the ice in 2025-26, Don Sweeney honed in on established veterans and pugnacious skaters like Jeannot, Mikey Eyssimont, and Sean Kuraly in free agency.
Those pickups — who combined for 22 total goals last season — may not be the answer to Boston’s uneven offensive product from last season.
But, Sweeney believes that a reworked Bruins roster set to undergo some growing pains stands to benefit from bringing in established veterans capable of raising the standard in practice and elevating the temperature against opponents once the puck drops.
“I pointed out a few players and the energy level they bring each and every day,” Sweeney said last week.”Mikey Eyssimont, really hard player to play against. Tanner Jeannot, really hard player to play against. … There’s a leadership part of it. Tanner has been part of three different organizations, so I think those are important qualities to continue to add.
“Sean Kuraly played with some of the greatest Boston Bruins ever, and he’s come back here with incredible excitement and appreciation for the opportunity here and that’s going to bleed into our room, and we needed it. We were flat last year after we made the trades, and rightfully so, with some of the players that had departed and what they had meant for the organization. And now it’s up to everybody else to assume those roles.”
There shouldn’t be much of a concern over whether or not Jeannot can fit into Boston’s identity and land some welts against the opposition.
Over the last five seasons, only Brady Tkachuk, Garnet Hathaway, and Keegan Kolesar have landed more hits against opponents than Jeannot (1,083 hits).
The greater concern is whether or not he can blend that bruising style and presence in the room with the type of offensive production that had him projected as the next Tom Wilson just a few years ago.
After that 24-goal outburst in 2021-22, Jeannot has only scored 20 total goals over the last three seasons — averaging just 6.7 goals per season.
“Yeah, I think so,” Jeannot said when asked if he believes he can hit the 20-goal mark once again. “I’m just looking for whatever the team needs me to be and what the team needs me to do to bring the most success and get the most points that we can. So I think there’s a lot of ways that I can help in that way.”
The Bruins’ hopes of going from a cellar-dweller to a playoff club in the span of a year likely won’t rest on Jeannot scoring 20 goals.
But as the Bruins look to foster a new culture and leadership hierarchy in Boston, Jeannot believes he can pull on the rope and help put his new team in better spot in the coming years.
“I’ve always kind of pictured myself trying to emulate that kind of style — what they’re known for having,” Jeannot said. “Super excited to be here, super excited to get things going.”
Bruins announce training camp roster
With the Bruins just days away from taking to the frozen sheet at Warrior Ice Arena, Boston officially announced its training-camp roster on Monday morning.
In total, Boston will bring in 28 forwards, 17 defenseman, and five goalies to training camp — with 13 forward, seven defense, and two goalie spots expected to be up for grabs.
Camp will officially begin on Wednesday, Sept. 17, but the first full day of on-ice drills will be on Thursday, Sept. 18.
Here is Boston’s full camp roster:
Forwards: Joey Abate, Viktor Arvidsson, Dalton Bancroft, John Beecher, Matej Blumel, Patrick Brown, Riley Duran, Michael Eyssimont, John Farinacci, Morgan Geekie, Brett Harrison, Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelic, Marat Khusnutdinov, Sean Kuraly, Elias Lindholm, Dans Locmelis, Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov, Fraser Minten, Casey Mittelstadt, David Pastrnak, Matt Poitras, Jake Schmaltz, Alex Steeves, Riley Tufte, Jeffrey Viel, Pavel Zacha
Defensemen: Jonathan Aspirot, Frederic Brunet, Michael Callahan, Jackson Edward, Colin Felix, Ty Gallagher, Jordan Harris, Loke Johansson, Henri Jokiharju, Hampus Lindholm, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Andrew Peeke, Victor Soderstrom, Billy Sweezey, Max Wanner, Nikita Zadorov