The Tampa Bay Lightning made a bold trade Wednesday, acquiring forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Seattle Kraken.
Heading back the other way is a 2025 second rounder, a 2026 1st, a 2027 1st round pick, and forward Michael Eyssimont. Both of the 1st rounders acquired by the Kraken are top 10 protected. If either pick fails to convey, then the Kraken will receive either the Lightning’s 2028 or 2029 1st rounder, plus an additional 3rd round pick.
In order to complete the trade, the Kraken will retain 50% of Gourde’s salary, while the Detroit Red Wings will retain an additional 25%. That mean’s Tampa Bay will only be on the hook for 25% of Gourde’s $5.17M cap hit. Detroit will receive the earlier of either Tampa or Edmonton’s 2025 4th round selections as compensation.
“We’re adding two players that are going to play significant minutes for us and two players that are highly competitive, have had success in the postseason in the past, have raised, have elevated their game when it matters most,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said. “They’re skilled. They can play 200-foot games. They can be used in all sorts of situations.”
“I’d rather have a lineup full of good players than a bank of a ton of draft picks because I think ultimately what we’re trying to do is win hockey games,” BriseBois said. “What guides us, what drives us is trying to win a championship and that’s really hard.”
The bold swing reunites Gourde with the team he spent the better part of his career with. The 33 year old began with the Syracuse Crunch during the 2013-14 season, before eventually joining the Lightning in 2016. There he captured two Stanley Cups, before signing a 6 year contract extension.
Gourde is set to become a free agent at season’s end. Meanwhile, Bjorkstrand figures to add some depth scoring to Tampa’s lineup, as he’s recorded at least 20 goals in 5 of the last 6 seasons, and is on pace to do so again this year (16 goals across 61 games).
“Oliver and Yanni were tremendous players for our organization who led by example on and off the ice, and I wish them all the best in their next chapter with the Lightning,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “Decisions like these are never easy, but creating this valuable cap space and draft capital allows us to be active in improving our team moving forward.”
Tampa Bay is next in action on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres in a 7pm ET showdown.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.