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Seattle Kraken forward Yanni Gourde is returning to the place where he won two consecutive Stanley Cups — and he's taking Oliver Bjorkstrand with him. Both players were traded from the Emerald City to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday afternoon, as first reported by Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman.
A 2026 fifth-round pick will also be headed from Seattle to Tampa in the deal.
In return, the Kraken are receiving two first-round picks — one in 2026 and one in 2027 — along with a 2025 second-rounder and forward Mikey Eyssimont, per Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli. The Lightning will not have a first-round pick until 2028 as they go all-in once again in 2024-25.
The Detroit Red Wings are also involved in the deal:
Players on the move! 🚚 #NHLTradeDeadline
The @TBLightning, @SeattleKraken, and @DetroitRedWings have made a trade! pic.twitter.com/GjCbbGKJm0
— NHL (@NHL) March 5, 2025
Gourde began his career in Tampa's system, starting as an undrafted skater in the American Hockey League and turning into a 64-point player with the Lightning over a full 82-game slate in 2017-18.
He was a key piece of back-to-back Stanley Cup runs between 2020-21; the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars in six games in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final and dispatched the Montreal Canadiens in five the next year.
The 33-year-old was selected by the Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, and helped the team make a cinderella run to Game 7 of Round 2 in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This season, he's managed six goals and 17 points over 36 games in an injury-shortened campaign.
Bjorkstrand started his NHL career with the Columbus Blue Jackets before being traded to Seattle in July of 2022. His best season came last year, when he played 82 games for the Kraken and amassed 59 points in a non-playoff campaign. In 2024-25, he's up to 37 points in 61 games.
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While two first-round picks is certainly a steep price to pay for two forwards who figure to play in Tampa Bay's bottom-six, general manager Julien BriseBois showed he means business ahead of the stretch run.
Lightning looking like one of NHL's premier teams — and they just got better
The Lightning are looking to make a deep run in the Eastern Conference for the first time since marching to their third straight Stanley Cup Final in 2022. They lost to the Colorado Avalanche in six games and haven't been past the first-round since.
But the club is heating up at the perfect time. Tampa has racked off nine wins in their last 10 games and are just three points back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for tops in the Atlantic Division. The division is a gauntlet, with the Bolts, Leafs and defending champion Florida Panthers all within three points with 20 games left.
Although it's expected that both Toronto and Florida will make moves of their own ahead of Friday's NHL Trade Deadline — and the Cats already added Seth Jones in their quest to go back-to-back — Tampa Bay should be as tough an out as any team come mid-April.
It'll be interesting to see if the Lightning's front office makes any more moves over the next 48 hours — and whether the roster has the juice to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth time in the last six years.
