Tanner Jeannot’s contract is now being praised - not for his performance, but for how it compares to the player he replaced

Tanner Jeannot has quietly been a force in the bottom six for the Boston Bruins. The concern was that the Bruins were about to pay $3.4 million annually for a player who couldn't score more than 15 points and whose physicality had taken a slight step down. However, through 16 games, the power forward is on pace for 33 points and is making the other team think twice about messing with his linemate, Fraser Minten.

Let's face it: If the Bruins hadn't traded Trent Frederic at last year's trade deadline, it's doubtful that they would've added Jeannot to the bottom six. He is now filling the Frederic role for this team, and even though the fans didn't love the Jeannot contract, Edmonton Oilers fans will tell you that it could be much worse.

The Oilers signed Frederic to a shocking eight-year contract extension this past offseason. The deal comes in annually at $50,000 more than Jeannot's, and the money didn't come with nearly as much scrutiny as what the Bruins faced for some reason. When looking at both players' careers side-by-side, there isn't too much of a difference.

Nevertheless, the Oilers made their decision, and they could already be regretting it. Through 15 games for Edmonton, Frederic has been a non-factor and has just one goal. It'd be easy to chalk it up to just a bad start, but considering Frederic had just four points in 23 games for Edmonton last season, it could be a large enough sample size to be a trend that sticks.

The Oilers have given Trent Frederic plenty of opportunity

Bruins fans likely all had the same reaction when they saw that Frederic was going to start the year on a line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. A common refrain for linemates of those superstars is that an average Joe could play alongside them and find a way to score 20. The stock for Frederic was through the roof as the season began.

Kris Knoblauch is notorious for changing his lines constantly, but the Frederic experiment ended quite quickly. The foot speed and offensive instincts were so low compared to his linemates that it was just never a fit, which is a hard thing to do when paired with one of the two stars, let alone both.

The good news for the Oilers is that the eventual buyout won't cost too much in relation to where the salary cap is going. The bad news is that they could've had a more effective version of Frederic for fewer years if they had gone after Jeannot instead. Nevertheless, the Oilers' loss is the Bruins' gain.

BREAKING: 49ers Under Fire for ‘Overcautious’ Approach to Injuries

The 49ers have been waiting patiently for some injured players to return to the field, and head coach Kyle Shanahan says his team will never rush things.

Asked about wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who will miss his sixth game on Sunday, Shanahan said the 49ers’ philosophy is that until they can measure that a player is back to 100 percent of the speed he was running at before the injury, it’s not worth the risk of re-injury to put him back on the field.

“He can run and hit certain speeds, but he hasn’t been able to hit his normal speeds that would allow him to come back,” Shanahan said. “We don’t let people come back until they can hit their normal speeds before they got hurt, or it makes them susceptible to injuries again. So we’re just waiting for him to hit those markers.”

Injuries have hit the 49ers hard this season, and the 49ers have also been slow and deliberate about allowing injured quarterback Brock Purdy to return. Mac Jones will start again on Sunday, and he won’t have Pearsall to throw to, as neither Purdy nor Pearsall won’t see the field until they’re at full speed.