The Tampa Bay Lightning have answered the cross-state-rival and defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers' first couple of additions ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline with a big move of their own.
The Lightning on Wednesday acquired forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle in a three-team trade that also involved Detroit facilitating the move by retaining salary.
The Bolts sent conditional 2026 and '27 first-round picks, a second-rounder this year and winger Mikey Eyssimont to the Kraken and a fifth-rounder this year to the Red Wings.
Tampa Bay also received a 2026 fifth-round pick and the rights to unsigned prospect Kyle Aucoin as part of another aggressive maneuver by two-time Cup-winning general manager Julien BriseBois, who is again bolstering his team to try to make a long playoff run.
Reacquiring Gourde, a fan favorite who was part of those back-to-back title teams in 2020 and ’21, and adding Bjorkstrand gives Coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning — currently the hottest team in the league with 10 wins in their last 12 games — some valuable depth.
"When I called them, they both said, 'We were hoping it was going to be Tampa,' so that was good to hear. I am really excited to be bringing them in," BriseBois said.
Gourde just returned Tuesday night from sports hernia surgery to repair an injury that caused him to miss the past two months. BriseBois said he waited to make the deal until receiving medical clearance.
"We're adding two players who are going to play significant minutes for us and two players who are highly competitive, have had success in postseasons in the past, have elevated their game when it matters most," BriseBois said. "They're skilled. They can play 200-foot games. They can be used in all sorts of stations so, if they average out a little more than 30 minutes each or total, we've upgraded the quality of those 30 minutes of ice time that we are going to have now on the ice"
The Kraken retained half of Gourde's salary and the Red Wings another quarter, so the Lightning get him at the bargain cap hit of just under $1.3 million. The first-round picks the next two years are top-10 protected, and Seattle could receive additional compensation as a result.
Gourde, 33, will be an unrestricted free agent, but Brisebois said he was hoping to re-sign him after the season. Bjorkstrand, who turns 30 in April, has another year on his contract .
"We've added $10 million in players today so we've kind of used up most of our cap space," BriseBois said. "I think we're just short of $800,000. Other than that $800,000, anything we do between now and Friday, if we do anything, a big if, it's going to have to be that $800,000 plus something coming out."
Gourde did not choose to leave the Lightning but rather was taken by the Kraken in the expansion draft in 2021.
Trading one or more first-round picks to make deadline deals has become a nearly annual tradition for BriseBois. He did so for Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman in 2020, David Savard in 2021, Brandon Hagel in 2022, and Tanner Jeannot in 2023.
The Lightning don't have a first-rounder again until 2028, but BriseBois expects to be picking between 20-32 every year and has pointed out the value there is not the same as No. 1.
Plus, he'd rather be responsible for championship banners hanging from the rafters than choosing 18-year-old prospects in the draft.
“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 Lightning's salvo came hours after the Panthers remained active before the 3 p.m. deadline Friday, acquiring goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for 25-year-old forward Patrick Giles.
Vanecek gives Florida depth in net, along with Chris Driedger, behind two-time Vezina Trophy-winning starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who backstopped them to their first Cup championship in franchise history last year.
That's a depth move, and the real one Tampa Bay is responding to was the Panthers acquiring top-four defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago in a weekend blockbuster that sent goalie Spencer Knight and a first-round pick to the Blackhawks.
WUSF's Rick Mayer contributed to this report.
