Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Deadline Target: Yanni Gourde – Hockey Writer – Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning is shaping up to become a buyer again as the 2025 trade deadline approaches. They have been one of the busiest teams in the deadline for the past few seasons, and in the Stanley Cup they traded Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodro. However, Lightning has recently gotten rid of the increased rent and has received long-term works like Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul.
This season, Lightning may be interested in reuniting with the Center Yanni Gourde. Elliotte Friedman claims that despite surgery on sports hernia in late January, Lightning will get 32 thought podcasts on his 32 thought podcasts, but he will take a look at Seattle veterans. Will he be very suitable?
Related: Tampa Bay Lightning February 3 Star
Disclaimer: The players in these articles are not always associated with Lightning, but are offered in some capacity this season. These articles consider whether Tampa Bay should target them and at how much it costs.
Gould’s background
After a year of minor league songs, Gould did not make the NHL. Instead, he is an undrafted free agent signed by Lightning years ago. He rose from the ECHL and Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League to get a full-time roster for the 2017-18 year, scoring 25 goals and 64 points in 82 games.
After five incredible seasons and two Stanley Cup lightning bolts, Gould was selected as the foundation for Seattle Kraken, the NHL’s latest team, in the 2021 expansion draft. Gourde has been the replacement captain for Kraken since its inception, and even helped the team win the playoffs in the first playoffs in 2022-23. Gourde was in his sixth and final year of a deal he signed with the Chargers in 2018 at the age of 33.
Gourde Scout Report
Gourde is a Swiss Army Knife striker who specializes in his defensive performance at this stage of his career. He is good at completing abilities and can put the puck behind the net on his high-crisis scoring chance. He likes to do screens and deflections before surfing the internet, and is a hard nose player despite the smaller frame.
Similar to another target we’ve seen, Kyle Palmieri, Gourde is a veteran player with an expiring contract. Like Palmieri, he is still an effective player in the late career. So why would Lightning be interested in his service?
Gould’s Advantages
Gourde’s defensive game made him fascinated by Tampa Bay. He is familiar with head coach Jon Cooper and knows some of the players on the Stanley Cup roster. Gourde ranked first in expected goals per 60 (XGA/60), passing a high-range shooting attempt at Natural Stat Trick vs. (HDCA/60).
Additionally, while Seattle isn’t the worst team, Gourde got out of the cycle and pre-trialed by continuously feeding his defenders to the blue line defenders. He is the only player this season to exceed 50% of the expected goal percentage (XGF%) and has played over the league average forward in the offensive zone, which is through the NHL Edge even strength.
Gould’s weakness
Although Gourde is an excellent defensive forward, his passes and speed stand out later in his career. He ranked 52nd percentile in a 20-mile-per-hour speed burst, 24th percentile in every 60 high-risk assists through all three areas. Finally, he is a veteran of the expiration deal, meaning he could be the pure rent of Lightning.
What is needed to acquire Gould (possibly)
General Manager Julien Brisebois has $5.22 million in CAP space to work with it during the trade deadline. Lars Eller is worth similarly and is regained by the Washington capital of the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season. The deal is a perfect comparison because like Gould, Eller reunited with the team most of his time in his career. Eller was a reliable two-way center at the age of 35, with the bottom six of competitors similar to Gourde.
Tampa Bay Acquisition: Yanni Gourde (F) – 50% Retention
Seattle Acquisition: 2026 third round draft pick, 2025 fifth round draft pick
How both parties benefit from the transaction
lightning
Lightning gains a versatile bidirectional center to strengthen its bottom six forward groups. In addition, Gould can assist with some secondary scores and bury the chances he gets. In addition, there is a familiar and common interest between the two parties. Lightning doesn’t have the most assets to use, but they finally have some cap space to make the deal work with a 50% retention rate.
Cleken
Kraken may not make the playoffs in his second straight season and will lose to free agents this summer. Seattle can keep his deals for the rest of the season and collect some assets for the future. Gourde arrived in Seattle and was their service, but the age continued to climb up to him.
Tampa Bay Lightning: On or Outside Gourde?
There is no doubt that Gourde will be a solid addition to the depth of lightning. The team has been on a craze lately, and Tampa Bay looks like a potential contender in the Eastern Conference. But with his current injury and age, Goode takes some risks as a pure rent acquisition. However, adding familiar faces will help relieve some of the top stars and potentially replicate the dominant third line from the Stanley Cup run. Despite being purely rent, the cost is minimal, which could be a potential deal worth the risk of lightning. But if they intend to advance to a true competitor, this is not their only move on the deadline.
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