The trade
Lightning get: Forward Yanni Gourde, forward Oliver Bjorkstrand, fifth-round pick in 2025, prospect Kyle Aucoin.
Kraken get: First-round pick in 2026, first-round pick in 2027 (both top-10 protected), Toronto’s second-round pick in 2025, forward Michael Eyssimont.
Red Wings get: Fourth-round pick in 2025 (earlier of Tampa or Edmonton’s pick) for taking on 25 percent of Gourde’s cap hit.
Shayna Goldman: The vision was there when Julien BriseBois moved out a ton of draft capital for Tanner Jeannot in 2023. Instead of focusing on the perceived value of those draft picks and worrying about the odds of that player becoming NHL caliber, BriseBois focused on bettering the Lightning’s chances in the moment. The value was just too lopsided in that instance.
It still is with this trade — the Lightning paid a lot.
But it’s much more justifiable this time because Tampa Bay looks like a real contender and should be trying to extend its dynasty while it still can. The top-10 protection on the picks helps, too.
The Lightning have already made bold changes to extend their window of contention; they just needed a few more ingredients to deepen their approach. Their biggest weakness was a thin forward group behind Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul, which is exactly what this trade addresses.
There is some uncertainty with Gourde, who has missed a lot of time with injury this season. But if anyone can channel the best version of him, it’s Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. Gourde is a defensive center who can be an outright menace in the playoffs with his forechecking and disruptive playing style. He should be a perfect fit with Paul, who could use the support on the third line.
Bjorkstrand is a really strong fit for the Lightning top nine, wherever he slots. He could provide lineup balance in a first- or third-line capacity, or be the missing piece for Cirelli and Hagel. He’s a defensively sound winger who can help dig play out of his own zone and transition up the ice. And while he isn’t a prolific scorer, he can generate chances off the cycle and score some clutch goals in a playoff environment — Tampa Bay should remember that fondly after he scored the series-clinching goal for the Blue Jackets against them back in 2019.
The Kraken are in a seller’s position and made the most of it by cashing in on two veterans. Seattle was able to use the Lightning’s cap situation to squeeze a bit more out of this deal, too. While there isn’t the same instant gratification with this deal for Seattle, since the first-rounders are in 2026 and 2027, those picks should be pretty valuable in a couple of years if the Lightning’s core slows down as they age.
Detroit’s involvement adds one more element to the deal. With so many non-playoff teams out of retention slots, anyone with cap flexibility should try to take advantage. For a fourth-round pick, that could help as a trade asset over the next few days.
Lightning grade: A+
Kraken grade: A
Dom Luszczyszyn: The Atlantic arms race is fully in motion. First, the Panthers addressed their biggest need by acquiring Seth Jones. Now the Lightning do the same with a massive swing, adding Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde.
The cost was not cheap, but it’s hard not to love what Tampa Bay did here. Flags fly forever and the Lightning moved the needle in a major way to give themselves a great shot to fly that flag one more time with this core. With the trade, the Lightning’s Stanley Cup chances jumped from seven percent to nine percent, bringing them right in line with the other two titans in the Atlantic.
All season we’ve talked about what Tampa Bay needs: a top-six winger, and depth in the bottom six. In Bjorkstrand and Gourde, the Lightning have checked off both boxes with two perfect fits, greatly solidifying their top nine.
Bjorkstrand has long been an analytics darling and still grades out as a top six caliber forward. He can score, he can drive play, and he can do a lot with the puck. Defensively, Bjorkstrand has been very sound this year with the Kraken allowing 0.25 fewer xGA/60 with him on the ice. That feels like a perfect fit next to Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel on a shutdown line, or next to Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel as that trio’s defensive conscience. In both cases, the fit makes a ton of sense, the missing piece that gives Tampa Bay the strongest and deepest top six in the league.
Gourde is a known commodity for the Lightning, one who is currently having one of his best defensive seasons in a reduced role. That’s exactly what Tampa Bay needs given the weakness of the Lightning’s bottom six. With the way Cirelli has blossomed, the Lightning don’t need Gourde to play a big role and that should suit his current level just fine.
As for the cost — who cares? Andrei Vasilevskiy is 30, Nikita Kucherov is 31, Victor Hedman is 34, Ryan McDonagh is 35. There’s no time but the present for Tampa Bay and this move cemented the Lightning as a force in the East.
That high cost is Seattle’s gain and the Kraken obviously did well here to secure two firsts and a second — one of the largest deadline hauls we’ve seen in recent memory. The steep price is worth the risk for the Lightning, but the Kraken did extremely well too. This is a clear win-win.
Lightning grade: A
Kraken grade: A
(Photo of Yanni Gourde: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
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