Bruins overpay for Tanner Jeannot on Day 1 of NHL free agency originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins have not fared very well in NHL free agency during Don Sweeney’s decade-long tenure as general manager, and his latest contract is a head-scratcher.

The B’s and left wing Tanner Jeannot have agreed to a five-year, $17 million contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal carries a $3.4 million cap hit.

Jeannot is a physical player (sixth-most hits in the league over the last four years) who can sometimes add a scoring punch, but he has not been a productive offensive player for a while.

Jeannot scored 24 goals with the Predators during the 2021-22 season, but he has scored only 20 goals over the last three years combined. The 28-year-old left wing tallied 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 67 games for the Kings last season.

A $3.4 million cap hit is a steep price for a player with one 10-goal season in his career and who will probably fill a bottom-six role for the Bruins. He also isn’t likely to be much of a factor on the power play or penalty kill.

Sure, the salary cap is expected to go up significantly in the coming years, but every dollar counts. And unless Jeannot rediscovers his goal-scoring form from the 2021-22 campaign, this contract will not age well.

The Bruins were one of the league’s worst offensive teams last season. They cannot afford to use up valuable cap space on players of Jeannot’s caliber.

Giving him a five-year deal was an odd move as well. A two- or three-year contract would have made more sense.

The Bruins now have around $5.3 million in cap space after signing Jeannot and trading for Edmonton Oilers left wing Viktor Arvidsson earlier on Tuesday.