NHL Trade Grades: Lightning go all-out to reunite with Yanni Gourde in blockbuster with Kraken

The Tampa Bay Lightning took a bit of a risk after the 2024 NHL season, choosing to let Steven Stamkos walk in free agency and instead replacing him with Jake Guentzel. While it's never easy to part with the greatest player in the history of the franchise, Guentzel came in as a younger and better player. The results have shown, with the Lightning sitting at 36-21-4 through their first 61 games of the regular season.

With 76 points, the Lightning sit in third place in a top-heavy Atlantic Division and are just three points out of first place. Their solidified playoff positioning set the team up to buy, and GM Julien BriseBois did so in a massive way on Wednesday.

According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, the Lightning acquired Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and a fifth-round pick in a deal with the Seattle Kraken while parting with two future first-round picks, a second-round pick, and Michael Eyssimont.

The Lightning dramatically bolstered their forward corps by adding two of the best forwards available around the NHL trade deadline, but did so at a steep cost.

NHL Trade Grades; Who won the Lightning-Kraken blockbuster?

The Lightning are all-in - there's no sugarcoating that. This deal dramatically improves their odds of winning the Stanley Cup this season.

The notable name acquired for Lightning fans is Yanni Gourde, a player who spent the first six seasons of his NHL career with Tampa Bay and played a big role in their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins. Immediately after that second Stanley Cup win, Gourde joined the Kraken in their Expansion Draft and didn't quite meet his lofty expectations. This season has been arguably his worst with the 33-year-old tallying six goals and 17 points while being limited to just 36 games due to injury. The good news for Tampa Bay on the injury front, though, is that Gourde returned to action after spending two months on the sidelines on Tuesday, so he's healthy and should be fresh come playoff time.

The veteran center should slot in somewhere in Tampa Bay's bottom six and provide the team with strong defense and support on the penalty kill.

Gourde is the most recognizable name, but Oliver Bjorkstrand is the best player added as part of this deal. Through the 61 games he has appeared in this season, Bjorkstrand has 16 goals and 37 points for Seattle. The 29-year-old has netted at least 20 goals in each of his last three seasons and five of his last six ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. He is likely to add to those totals this season.

Bjorkstrand should give the Lightning an awesome scoring threat to join Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel on what could be one of the best second lines in the Eastern Conference.

While the Lightning are undoubtedly better, they certainly paid a price to make this deal happen, parting with a pair of first-round picks as well as a second-round pick to complete the transaction. That's a ton of value for a 33-year-old in Gourde, who has had a sluggish season and is in the final year of his contract, and for Bjorkstrand, who has just one season left after this one on his deal.

Given that fact, it's hard not to love what the Kraken did. The team has the fourth-lowest point total in the Western Conference so the playoffs weren't happening this season, and they traded a pair of veterans who are not locked in long-term in exchange for three valuable draft picks. Sure, all three might come late in their respective rounds, but it's hard not to love the deal from Seattle's perspective.

At the end of the day, this comes down to Stanley Cup playoff success. If the Lightning win a Stanley Cup, it does not matter what they gave up to get it. Not a single Lightning fan will be worried about a 2027 first-round pick if they can seal the deal. With that being said, though, it really is Cup or bust in Tampa Bay for a Lightning team that does not have its own first-round pick until 2028. Gourde and Bjorkstrand get them closer, but it's up to the team to justify the deal.

Kraken trade grade: A-
Lightning trade grade: B