Kraken trade Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand to Lightning
SEATTLE – In one fell swoop, the Seattle Kraken said goodbye to an alternate captain and an All-Star, sending center Yanni Gourde and winger Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, two days before the NHL trade deadline.
The Kraken received a bundle of high draft picks – first-rounders in 2026 and 2027 and a second-rounder this summer that once belonged to Toronto. The Lightning didn’t have a first-rounder to offer them this season.
The Kraken also received Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont. A former fifth-round pick, Eyssimont, 28, chipped in 10 points (five goals) and 44 penalty minutes in 57 regular-season games with Tampa Bay this season.
This was a three-team trade that included the Detroit Red Wings. Seattle will retain 50% of Gourde’s salary while Detroit will retain 25%, according to the Lightning.
In addition to Bjorkstrand and Gourde, the Lightning picked up Seattle’s 2026 fifth-round pick.
“Oliver and Yanni were tremendous players for our organization who led by example on and off the ice, and I wish them all the best in their next chapter with the Lightning,” Seattle General Manager Ron Francis said in a team release. “Decisions like these are never easy, but creating this valuable cap space and draft capital allows us to be active in improving our team moving forward.”
Gourde, 33, is heading home, having won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay in 2020-21. The Lightning originally signed the undrafted, 5-foot-9, 175-pounder in 2014, and that was the only NHL team he’d played for when Seattle took him in the expansion draft in 2021.
Through four season of Kraken play, he has 52 goals. In 14 playoff games in 2023, he scored four times, including a memorable overtime winner in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals in Dallas.
Gourde has been Seattle’s fourth-line center for much of this season when healthy. Before Wednesday night’s loss to the Minnesota Wild, Gourde last played the first week of January. He had surgery for a sports hernia but returned in time for one last game at Climate Pledge Arena in home colors.
His cap hit this season was $5,166,667. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer alongside linemate Brandon Tanev.
Middle-six forward Bjorkstrand, 29, arrived via trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 22, 2022, for third- and fourth-round picks. He was selected to represent Seattle at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game, the first All-Star nod of his career.
In 224 career regular-season games with Seattle, Bjorkstrand totaled 141 points (56 goals). He had his own playoff star turn, scoring both goals in Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche, a 2-1 victory. He has one more season on his contact with a cap hit of $5.4 million, per Puckpedia.
The Kraken (26-32-4) are headed for a second consecutive spring without a playoff run. Tampa Bay is seated in the third playoff spot in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division.
As far as the fine print goes, both first-round picks are top-10 protected and owned by Tampa Bay. If either moves back and becomes a 2028 pick due to being in the top 10, Seattle receives an additional third-round pick in 2028. If both picks slide to 2028 and 2029, respectively, Seattle receives a third-round pick in 2028 and 2029.