TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Yanni Gourde to a six-year contract worth an AAV of $2.33 million, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
Gourde, 33, was re-acquired by Tampa Bay as part of a three-team trade with the Detroit Red Wings and Seattle Kraken on March 5, 2025. After recording six goals and 17 points in 36 games with the Kraken, Gourde skated in 21 contests with the Bolts, collecting 13 assists and 14 points with a plus-four rating. Following his acquisition, Gourde ranked third among all Lightning skaters for assists while his 50 hits were the second-most on the team. He appeared in all five of Tampa Bay’s playoff games, ranking second among all Bolts forwards for blocked shots (6) and sixth for hits (9).
A back-to-back Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021, Gourde was originally undrafted before being signed by Tampa Bay as a free agent on March 10, 2014. He made his NHL debut with the Bolts on December 15, 2015, at Toronto, and recorded his first career point, an assist, in a 5-4 win.
Gourde went on to skate in 310 regular season contests with the Lightning from 2015-21, logging 80 goals and 187 points to rank seventh on the team for goals and eighth for points during that span. Additionally, his five shorthanded goals and eight shorthanded points both ranked second among all Tampa Bay skaters while his 20 game-winning goals were tied for fourth. From 2018-21, Gourde skated in each of the Lightning’s 69 playoff games, recording 16 goals and 29 points while leading the team with 47 takeaways.
After being selected by Seattle in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, Gourde appeared in 271 regular season contests with the Kraken, registering 52 goals and 146 points with 219 penalty minutes. After helping guide Seattle to the organization’s first and only playoff appearance in 2023, Gourde played in all 14 postseason games and led the team with nine assists, 13 points, two game-winning goals and 18 takeaways. The Saint-Narcisse, Quebec, native remains the franchise’s all-time leader for takeaways (192) and shorthanded points (8) while ranking second for penalty minutes, fourth for assists (94) and points (tied), and sixth for games played.
In total, Gourde has skated in 602 career NHL games, collecting 133 goals and 347 points with 28 game-winning tallies and a plus-46 rating. In addition, he has appeared in 88 career playoff games, logging 20 goals and 43 points with 164 hits and 65 takeaways.
