It was June 29th and Tanner and Keely Jeannot had just gotten home from the hospital with their newborn son, Calder, who had only been born three days prior. Keely was taking a nap when, during the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Tanner received a phone call.

He had been traded by the Tampa Bay Lightning for a couple of draft picks and was headed to Los Angeles.

“It was a really crazy time, we just had our son,” tells the 27-year-old Jeannot. “I was really excited to be coming to LA, obviously it’s a great spot to live. Just a fresh opportunity is something that is welcoming, and I’m really excited to be here.”

Jeannot’s hockey story starts back when he could barely walk in his hometown of Oxbow, Saskatchewan. His brother Chad, older by five years, played hockey, and it was all young Tanner wanted to do. Hanging around the rink while Chad played his games made it so that the younger Jeannot sibling had eyes only for the ice rink before he was able to get on the ice. He eventually began skating at the age of three.

Despite growing up in Saskatchewan, he followed the Vancouver Canucks as a kid – probably because it was Chad’s favorite team – and enjoyed watching players like Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Marcus Naslund. But his favorite player was actually the Detroit Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk.

“He’s obviously a different player than I am, but I just thought it was awesome watching him, the way he could handle the puck and steal the puck and stuff like that,” explains the forward. “So he was always my favorite player to watch.”

Both of Jeannot’s parents are retired teachers and Chad is currently overseas teaching in Egypt, so when he decided to focus on hockey, Tanner effectively carved a different path. Although he admits he would have tried to play pro baseball if not for hockey, Jeannot knows that hockey was always his number one.

Jeannot played for the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League, and despite not being drafted to an NHL team, was signed as a free agent by the Nashville Predators in 2018. After a few seasons in the minors, Jeannot played his first game in a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on March 2, 2021. The following season would be Jeannot’s rookie campaign, where he broke out with 24 goals, 41 points, and 130 penalty minutes in 81 games. Jeannot was eventually traded to Tampa Bay, and before the start of this season, in 227 NHL games, had amassed 42 goals, 80 points and 314 penalty minutes.

Going undrafted, Jeannot didn’t realize his NHL dream was within reach until the ink was dry on his first contract.

“I was doing well in the minors and got up and got my shot and then stuck around,” recalls Jeannot, whose gritty style of play coupled with his hometown, earned him the nickname ‘the Oxbow Ox.’ “Then I guess I signed my first one-way contract and that was when I was like ‘okay, we’re here and now we gotta go.’”

Maintaining a positive mindset and keeping his emotions in check have been important factors in Jeannot’s success thus far.

“You have to stay even. You can’t ride the highs and lows,” shares Jeannot, who enjoys reading self-improvement books in his free time. “You can be really high and then that just makes, if you’re going through a rough patch, it makes it seem even worse than what it is. Stay even and enjoy the moments when they’re happening that are good moments and don’t get too down when you know things aren’t going your way.”

Continues Jeannot: “There are always other things going on in life that are important too, so just focusing on yourself and being happy, that’s going to help you stay even keel throughout the ups and downs of hockey.”

Away from the rink, Jeannot is a busy guy. He and Keely now have two boys as Calder has an older brother by two years named Jayce. The Jeannots have a female Pyrenees Husky named Oakley, who, according to Dad, is really big with lots of hair. Tanner and Keely, who reside in Saskatchewan during the offseason, both love hiking and try to make it out to Western Canada every year to hike the mountains in Alberta, British Columbia. The couple is settled into a place in Manhattan Beach for the season and their favorite thing to do right now is walk down to the beach and feel the energy.

Tanner first met Keely while they were both lifeguards back in Saskatchewan. Jeannot is a strong swimmer, and lifeguarding was Jeannot’s summer job when he was a teenager. The job also paid for Jeannot’s first car, which was a Jeep.

In what little free time he does have, Jeannot loves being outdoors – fishing and golfing in addition to hiking. He typically does a crossword puzzle every morning, and he can also be found with a book in tow, perhaps something about finance or a biography. He’s a huge fan of country music, and just recently saw Zach Bryan in concert. On his list of things to do in LA are sporting events, Lakers and Dodgers in particular.

While he doesn’t claim to have a best friend in hockey, Jeannot does relish the time with his teammates. For Jeannot, time on the plane is best spent playing something called Super Tock, which is a four-player game that uses cards and marbles.

“I just like getting close to everybody,” says Jeannot, who didn’t know anyone but David Rittich coming into training camp. “I just enjoy being around all the guys and being at the rink, it’s like your second family. So I just try to be a good guy and nice to everybody.”

The number 10 was what Jeannot wore on his sweater all throughout his junior hockey days, but when he turned pro, it wasn’t available. He went with the number 84 at that point, but the Kings have one of the only other 84s in the NHL, worn by Vladislav Gavrikov, so Jeannot went back to his old familiar 10 when picking a jersey number.

With a new baby and a new-ish number, Jeannot is looking forward to a new start in Los Angeles, and he’s certain about the kind of impression he wants to leave on the team, its fans, and their city.

“I just want to be known as a really hard-working guy who does anything for the team, and is hard to play against,” Jeannot asserts. “I want to be that guy that sticks up for my teammates and everyone knows that they’re in good hands when I’m on the ice.”

Sounds like this undrafted “ox” could be just what the doctor ordered.

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