The Tampa Bay Lightning swing for the fences when they make trades. Earlier today, they announced they had linked up with the Seattle Kraken to acquire Oliver Bjorkstrand and former Lightning Yanni Gourde in exchange for some draft picks and Mikey Eyssimont. Here are the full details:
The Kraken are retaining 50 percent on Gourde’s cap hit, while the Detroit Red Wings are retaining another 25 percent. The Lightning have quietly emerged as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender over the last month or two. Forward depth was their biggest question mark, and they addressed it today. As for the Kraken, they finally made the right decision to start rebuilding.
Lightning Go Big Again
The Lightning were a top-heavy team heading into this season’s trade deadline, but that shouldn’t be a concern after acquiring Gourde and Bjorkstrand. Gourde won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning, so there’s familiarity with him, while Bjorkstrand is an underrated upgrade for their top six.
Gourde is not the player he was with the Lightning in his first go-around, but he’s still a very useful player. His counting totals may not suggest that — he has 17 points in 36 games — But his two-way impacts have been excellent on a Kraken team that has struggled to do anything right at five-on-five. The Lightning should be the perfect fit for him, as he’ll likely slot in as their third-line center behind Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli.
Meanwhile, Bjorkstrand should bring some more scoring pop to the middle of the Lightning’s lineup. His counting totals are also not that impressive — 16 goals and 37 points in 61 games — but he was the Kraken’s most efficient five-on-five scorer this season. He’s a good playmaker with an underrated shot and some play-driving ability, even though he’s not the best skater.
The Lightning did give quite a bit to acquire both players, but who cares for where they are at this point as a franchise? First-round picks don’t matter to them as long as they’re in win-now mode, especially with their core players not…
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