Tanner Jeannot destroys Kris Letang with a monster hit.

Nashville Predators rookie forward Tanner Jeannot made his presence known on Sunday afternoon and unfortunately for a pair of veterans in the National Hockey League he did so at their expense.

On Sunday, Jeannot and the Predators faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins and it would be during the second period of that game that Jeannot would use the more physical aspects of his skillset to send a message to the Penguins. Jeannot began by delivering a thunderous bodycheck to veteran Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, one that came with enough force to send Letang sailing through the air a little before he came crashing back down to the ice.

It was a thunderous body check, but thankfully one that Letang was able to bounce right back from. Here's a look at the slow motion replay of the body check:

That wouldn't be the end of it for Jeannot and the Penguins though because Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson decided to get involved in this one. It would appear that Matheson took exception to the big hit from the Predators rookie, in spite of the fact that it appeared to be a good solid hit through the body, and as a result the Penguins veteran defenseman challenged Jeannot to drop the gloves.

It would be a decision that Matheson would likely come to regret as he would prove to be no match for the much younger and frankly much more dangerous looking Tanner Jeannot. Although Matheson did manage to get in some offense of his own in this one, it was Jeannot who delivered the majority of the blows and the more devastating ones as well. Jeannot pummeled Matheson with right hands and much to his credit as it looked like Matheson would go down hard with no helmet, Jeannot appeared to make an effort to slow his fall back down to the ice.

You can watch the replay of the full sequence including both the hit to Letang and the subsequent fight between Jeannot and Matheson in the short clip you will find just below: