Tampa Bay Doubles Down on Depth with Gourde Signing

At some point, perhaps Tampa Bay Lightning fans will come to grips with the fact that General Manager Julien Brisebois wasn’t being disingenuous when he repeatedly stated that he believes the Lightning is “one heck of a great hockey team.”

Brisebois has shown that confidence, so far, this offseason by re-signing backup goaltender Jonas Johansson, and most recently, veteran forward Yanni Gourde.

Gourde inked a six-year deal recently worth a total of $14 million (an average of $2,333,333 annually).

“Yanni is just a ball of energy,” veteran Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Gourde late this season. “What is the line in “The Grinch,” where his heart grows to become really big? That’s Yanni.”

When BriseBois made the deal at the trade deadline in March to bring Gourde back to the Lightning, he said at the time he hoped to keep Gourde in Tampa, and Gourde said that was his desire, as well. However, BriseBois has been in this business long enough to understand that not every positive relationship can continue.

“We’re going to do everything that we can to have as strong of a roster as possible,” BriseBois said of the players whose contracts expired. “All of the guys who are here, I like. There is a possibility for all of them to come back.

“But the odds of them all coming back are small.”

The 33-year-old Gourde broke a finger in the first game of the postseason this spring, which hampered his production (one point and minus three in five games). But he had 31 points between his two teams this season, which was competitive with his 33-point season in 2023-24, so it made sense that he would still attract interest from around the league.

“Some of those guys are unrestricted free agents,” BriseBois continued. “They might want the opportunity to go to a different organization where they might be able to play a bigger role.”

That wasn’t on Gourde’s mind, though.

What Gourde has said since signing the new contract is that he believes in the Lightning (despite three consecutive first-round exits in the playoffs), and he loves playing for the organization and living in Florida.

Gourde is still young enough and productive enough to generate a deal in the $14,000,000 range, but for a 33-year-old with 600-plus games on his resume, that was probably going to be stretched over three to four seasons. However, that level of hit to the future salary caps, even though the next three seasons it is increasing, wouldn’t have been as conducive to Tampa Bay having the flexibility to continue to add talent.

Gourde accepting a lower average ($2.3M annually) not only showed his desire to stay with the organization (he most assuredly could have gotten a higher annual salary elsewhere) but also his willingness to work with the team so that it could remain among the best teams (ignore the playoff exits) in the National Hockey League.

So, what does Gourde’s signing mean to the rest of the 2025-26 roster? It puts the Lightning in a very comfortable position from a talent perspective, as well as financially.

The Lightning currently has a little less than $3,500,000 remaining on their 2025-26 salary cap, and still has unrestricted free agents in defenseman Nick Perbix, forwards Cam Atkinson and Luke Glendening, and restricted free agent forward Gage Goncalves.

The team has 11 forwards (Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Conor Geekie, Zemgus Girgensons, Gourde, Nick Paul, and Mitchell Chaffee) under contract.

Tampa Bay also has one more season on a contract with its top player in Syracuse, forward Conor Sheary ($2,000,000). It will carry 13 forwards on its 2025-26 roster, which might include Sheary or young prospects Dylan Duke ($867,500) or Jack Finley (not under contract currently).

Glendening brings the skill set of handling faceoffs well, but at 36 years old, it would take a very salary-cap-friendly deal to bring him back.

In the case of Goncalves, without question, BriseBois wants to re-sign the young player, who improved every time the sun rose over the Atlantic coast of Florida this past season. Not re-signing Goncalves is NOT an option.

“Gage Goncalves,” BriseBois said, “out of all of our players, has shown the most growth in a year, by a significant margin.”

Gourde will provide third-line depth at center or left wing while being paired with also-versatile Nick Paul, who can also play either of those two positions.

Those two, with either Geekie or Chaffee, will bring solid production ahead of a fourth line of Goncalves, who is going to be difficult to keep on that line as he continues to progress, Girgensons and either Geekie or Chaffee.

Gourde can not only play in different spots, but he also has the ability and experience to bump up lines as injuries happen throughout the season.

As far as the length of the contract is concerned, being hampered by a $2.3 million per season hit on an increasing cap (a new collective bargaining agreement will be in place by the final portion of Gourde’s deal) over the final 18 to 24 months of his deal – if Gourde’s play declines – isn’t a financial albatross for the team.

“We are striving and trying to win the Stanley Cup every year,” BriseBois said. “I foresee that being the case for many years to come.”

This contract with Gourde keeps Tampa Bay in a position to do that.