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Yanni Gourde

Seattle Kraken Activate Yanni Gourde

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One of the Seattle Kraken with the highest expectations coming out of the expansion draft was Yanni Gourde, but that excitement was quickly squashed when GM Ron Francis announced that the former Tampa Bay Lightning forward would require shoulder surgery. Gourde was given a four-month recovery timeline, meaning he’d be back at some point in November or early December.

Hard work has paid off in this case, with Gourde activated from injured reserve well ahead of schedule. The talented center will make his Kraken debut this evening when Seattle takes on the New Jersey Devils in their fifth game of the season.

Unfortunately, good news rarely comes alone these days for the Kraken, and today is no different. The team has also moved backup goaltender Chris Driedger to injured reserve, recalling Joey Daccord from the minor leagues in his stead. Kole Lind has been moved to the AHL to make room for Gourde on the roster.

Missing just four games is a best-case scenario for Gourde, who is coming off consecutive Stanley Cup championships with the Lightning and represents the team’s best option down the middle. Though he has been known for his work as a checking-line player the last couple of years in Tampa Bay, Gourde does have exceptional offensive upside, and scored 17 goals and 36 points in 56 games last season. His career-highs of 25 goals and 64 points came in 2017-18 as Brayden Point was just breaking out and before Anthony Cirelli had established himself in the Lightning lineup. In Seattle, he should get the chance to get back to that level of offensive production given the minutes he is expected to receive.

It’s not clear exactly what happened to Driedger to put him on the shelf. He came into last night’s game in relief of Philipp Grubauer and was expected to start tonight in the second half of the back-to-back, but will now be out at least seven days. In the interim, Daccord will serve as the backup, a great chance for a young goaltender that looked very promising before injury robbed him of most of last season. In one start for the Charlotte Checkers this season, the 25-year-old Daccord stopped 26 of 27 shots for the win.

Yanni Gourde Could Return Ahead Of Schedule For Seattle Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken could be getting a top-six fixture back in the lineup earlier than expected. General manager Ron Francis reported in his press conference today, on the opening day of training camp for the team, that Gourde’s recovery from injury was progressing “ahead of schedule,” meaning he could be back in the lineup earlier than the previously projected early-December return.

Gourde was Seattle’s selection from the Tampa Bay Lightning in this year’s expansion draft, and he was immediately expected to take on an increased role in Seattle. Serving as arguably the best third-line center in the league behind Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli, Gourde brings a hard-working, solid two-way game with 50-60 point upside. Widely projected as the team’s no. 1 or no. 2 center, it was revealed just days after the draft that Gourde would miss the first two months of the season after having shoulder surgery.

It should be noted that Gourde was indeed at Seattle’s first day of training camp today, albeit in a red non-contact jersey.

The 29-year-old (soon to be 30) Gourde is among one of the best undrafted talents in the NHL. He’s brought home the Stanley Cup in two of his four full NHL seasons, all with Tampa Bay. His rookie campaign in 2017-18 saw him elevated into a top-six role due to injury, and he didn’t disappoint. Despite being 26 years old at the time, his 25 goals and 64 points in 82 games was good enough to earn him some Calder votes, finishing sixth overall in voting for the trophy.

Seattle hopes that a healthy Gourde in a top-six role this season can offer similar production.

Yanni Gourde Out Following Shoulder Surgery

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The Seattle Kraken may have selected Yanni Gourde from the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he won’t be in the lineup on opening night. Kraken GM Ron Francis revealed after the draft that Gourde will be out for the start of the season thanks to shoulder surgery he had earlier this week. The expected recovery time is four months, putting him on track to return at some point in November.

A back-to-back Stanley Cup champion, Gourde is one of the most expensive players the Kraken took this evening, with a $5.17MM cap hit that stretches through 2024-25. The 29-year-old forward is expected to be in the mix for the top two center spots when healthy, but the Kraken will need to move forward without him for likely at least a month of the regular season.

That absence should provide even more opportunity to players like Jared McCann and Calle Jarnkrok, though the final Seattle roster is obviously not set. With no side-deals being announced in connection to the draft, you can bet there will be plenty of other transactions coming for the Kraken in the coming days.

Expansion Tracker: Seattle Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken expansion picks were submitted to the league this morning, and after the conclusion of tonight’s Expansion Draft, everything has become official. It was a rather anticlimactic evening, as all of the picks had been leaked accurately throughout the day. It is important to note that considering some puzzling player selections and a large amount of cap space, more moves from the Kraken should happen later this week.

Anaheim: D Haydn Fleury
Arizona: F Tyler Pitlick
Boston: D Jeremy Lauzon
Buffalo: D William Borgen
Calgary: D Mark Giordano
Carolina: F Morgan Geekie
Chicago: F John Quenneville
Colorado: F Joonas Donskoi
Columbus: D Gavin Bayreuther
Dallas: D Jamie Oleksiak
Detroit: D Dennis Cholowski
Edmonton: D Adam Larsson
Florida: G Chris Driedger
Los Angeles: D Kurtis MacDermid
Minnesota: D Carson Soucy
Montreal: D Cale Fleury
Nashville: F Calle Jarnkrok
New Jersey: F Nathan Bastian
New York Islanders: F Jordan Eberle
New York Rangers: F Colin Blackwell
Ottawa: G Joey Daccord
Philadelphia: F Carsen Twarynski
Pittsburgh: F Brandon Tanev
San Jose: F Alexander True
St. Louis: D Vince Dunn
Tampa Bay: F Yanni Gourde
Toronto: F Jared McCann
Vancouver: F Kole Lind
Washington: G Vitek Vanecek
Winnipeg: F Mason Appleton

The Kraken finish with $29MM in cap space, via CapFriendly. Notable RFAs include Twarynski, Dunn, Borgen, and Cholowski. They could be looking at players like Geekie to make the full-time jump to the NHL next season, but for now, the roster looks relatively filled out. It’s got to be expected at this point that some defensemen will be dealt off the roster, as they currently sit with 10 at the NHL level with none of them being waiver-eligible.

This page will be updated as further reports come in, and the official list will be published later tonight.

Nashville’s Michael McCarron Suspended Two Games For Illegal Check

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The Department of Player Safety announced that Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron has been suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde. The suspension will cost him $12,068.96.

The incident (video here) happened with just 25 seconds left in the third period of Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Tampa Bay when McCarron nailed Gourde with his shoulder in open ice, sending the forward to his knees. McCarron was given a two-minute penalty and then received a match penalty.

McCarron was playing his first game in almost a month and will not be missed in their lineup. The forward has appeared in just five games for the Predators this year with no points, while averaging under 10 minutes per game.

 

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Tampa Bay Lightning

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With the holiday season wrapping up, PHR will continue its look at what teams are thankful for as we get closer to the halfway point. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

What are the Lightning most thankful for?

The fact that they are still in it.

After a dominant 2018-19 season in which Tampa Bay ran away with the Atlantic Division and the President’s Trophy with a dominant 62-16-4 for 128 points and no significant changes to its team, most expected another dominant season once again. That has not happened with the team, almost luckily, sitting in third place in a challenging Atlantic Division as a recent six-game winning streak has improved their record to a more respectable 23-13-4 record. The team seems to have found its game in the last few weeks and hopefully will force their way back to the top of the standings.

Who are the Lightning most thankful for?

Victor Hedman.

The 2017-18 Norris Trophy winner has had several great seasons, but the 29-year-old is on pace for career highs across the board. Through 38 games, Hedman has nine goals and 30 assists, which would translate to a point-per-game season, something he’s never accomplished in his remarkable career. Of course, with so many strong defensive candidates this year, he might have a hard time trying to get nominated for the award, but the defenseman has been a rock for Tampa Bay in a tough first half.

What would the Lightning be even more thankful for?

Better goaltending.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner had a dominant season last year, posting a 2.40 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 53 appearances. However, this year has been a totally different story as the 25-year-old has been less impressive with a 2.83 GAA and a .909 save percentage. Those numbers aren’t terrible, but hardly numbers you’d expect to see out of last year’s Vezina Trophy winner.

Unfortunately, the team isn’t getting better help from the backup position. The Lightning brought in veteran Curtis McElhinney to create a dominant tandem with Vasilevskiy, but the 36-year-old has struggled in his first year in Tampa after an impressive season with the Carolina Hurricanes last year. He currently has a 3.19 GAA and a .904 save percentage in 11 appearances. The team needs both netminders to bounce back and have a dominant second half.

What should be on the Lightning’s Holiday Wish List?

The team hasn’t gotten the dominant individual performances that they did a year ago. Nikita Kucherov has been impressive, but is well below his 41-goal, 128-point season that netted him the Hart, Art Ross and Ted Lindsay trophies a year ago. Kucherov so far has just 14 goals and 43 points, which would be solid numbers for almost everyone else on the team, but not so much for Kucherov. The team has seen a number of forwards slip as Brayden Point, Mathieu Joseph and Yanni Gourde, to name a few, have struggled more this year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lightning’s Yanni Gourde Suspended Two Games

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The NHL Department of Player Safety is on a run. After assigning Ottawa Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau a one-game suspension yesterday, they have stayed in the Atlantic Division with a punishment for Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde. Player Safety has determined that Gourde’s illegal check to the head of the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal is worthy of a two-game suspension.

The ban is almost more of a three-game suspension, as Gourde was tossed from Thursday night’s game after the first period altercation due to a match penalty. This is Gourde’s first incidence of supplemental discipline, having never been previously suspended or fined, but he has already set a career-high in penalty minutes this season and his often overly-aggressive style and the clear intent of the hit were enough to levy a substantial suspension. Player Safety explained as much (video):

With one hand on his stick, Staal holds off (Ryan) Callahan and moves the puck to a teammates. As he does so, Gourde cuts across the front of Staal and delivers a forceful hit that picks Staal’s head, making it the main point of contact. On a play where such head contact was avoidable, this is an illegal check to the head. It is important to note that the head is the main point of contact on this play, as Gourde’s shoulder makes clear and forceful contact with Staal’s head. While we acknowledge Gourde’s argument that Staal was bent low and stumbling as he plays the puck, this hit does not meet any of the criteria for unavoidable head contact… Based on their relative positions on the ice, Gourde has angles of approach available to him that do not require hitting through Staal’s head. In addition, Staal’s head does not materially change position just prior to contact to cause it to become the main point of contact for a hit that otherwise would have been legal… Even before Staal stumbles, Gourde takes an angle that cuts in front of Staal’s core, picks Staal’s head, and makes it the main point of contact.

Gourde clearly used his hearing with Player Safety this morning to argue that the hit to the head would not have occurred if Staal – at 6’4″ – was not stumbling forward while Gourde – at 5’9″ – was trying to make the check. Player Safety throws out this explanation, stating that Gourde’s trajectory was always one with intent to hit a defenseless Staal in the head area. Fortunately, Staal was able to return to the game. The Hurricanes star has a history of concussions and an injury absence may have landed Gourde with a longer suspension. Instead, he will miss the next to games for the Lightning, who have little to play for having already locked up the President’s Trophy.

Yanni Gourde To Face Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Tampa Bay Lightning may lose one of their talented forwards for at least a game, as Yanni Gourde is scheduled to have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety today. Gourde made clear head contact with Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal last night, and received a match penalty for it. Staal returned to the game.

Gourde was guaranteed a hearing with the league as a match penalty carries with it an indefinite automatic suspension, and it’s easy to see why he was assessed the penalty. Though there may be some leniency given due to the fact that Staal was being hauled down from behind and may have not been in the position Gourde expected, but there is clear, hard contact with his head and not really any other part of his body.

The diminutive Gourde is known for his offense but is also more than willing to engage physically, and has recorded 81 hits in 75 games this season. He has never been suspended in his short career however, which also may keep his penalty down. Regardless, the Lightning almost have nothing to play for down the stretch as they have already locked up the Presidents Trophy and will be the first seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Losing Gourde for a few games will only affect his pocketbook and future disciplinary action.

Tampa Bay Still Has Several Other Extension Candidates

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The offseason has been busy for the Tampa Bay Lightning, despite never completing a rumored Erik Karlsson deal. The team has already re-signed restricted free agent J.T. Miller to a long-term deal and negotiated huge extensions for Ryan McDonagh and Nikita Kucherov. The team has no arbitration cases pending and no restricted free agents threatening a holdout, but the work is far from over for GM Steve Yzerman and the rest of the front office.

Even outside of trade talks, Yzerman and company must be working through potential contract extensions for several other players on the roster. Brayden Point is the obvious candidate, after showing in his first two NHL seasons that he should be considered among the very best centers in the league despite his late draft status and diminutive size. Point is a workhorse in the defensive zone and should challenge for Selke trophies over the next few years as a shutdown option. He also added 32 goals and 66 points this season, and then followed that performance with a nearly point-per-game pace in the playoffs (16P in 17GP). In the final year of his entry-level contract, it will be interesting to see if the Lightning go the bridge deal route as they did with Kucherov, or immediately sign Point to a long-term deal.

On defense the team will have to make a decision at some point regarding Anton Stralman, who continues to be one of the league’s most underrated players and is heading into the final year of his current deal. At 31, Stralman likely still has a few productive years ahead of him as a mistake-free top-four defenseman and could fetch a multi-year contract on the open market. A right-handed option, plenty of teams would be thrilled to add a player capable of logging more than 20 minutes a night on a regular basis. Stralman might just be out of the question though for the Lightning after inking McDonagh to his $6.75MM cap hit, given that the team will have to extend Mikhail Sergachev and Andrei Vasilevskiy at some point down the road as well. While Dan Girardi and Braydon Coburn both come off the books along with Stralman, there might not be enough money to go around.

That lack of finances could also be thanks to the final big extension candidate, 26-year old Yanni Gourde. Gourde was one of the very best bargains in the league last season, scoring 64 points as a rookie in the first season of a two-year $2MM (total) contract. After several good seasons in the minor leagues the Lightning gave him a chance to play consistent minutes in the NHL and he rewarded them with an incredible year, leading the team with a whopping +34 rating. While Point is still young enough to consider a bridge deal that will keep him a restricted free agent in a few seasons, Gourde will be an unrestricted free agent next summer without an extension. The undrafted winger would put himself among the very best options available with another season like 2017-18, and will force the Lightning into an incredibly tough decision. The team has been doing a wonderful job of managing the cap so far, but a Gourde contract would be 100% UFA seasons and likely fairly expensive even before this year takes place. Afterwards, he might just be out of their price range.

These players are all extension candidates because of their excellent play for Tampa Bay, and they make the Lightning a very interesting team to watch this season. Even if the team is in a solid playoff position and looking like the Stanley Cup contender many believe them to be, several players on their roster may be available in trade. Whether that is players like Gourde and Stralman who are scheduled for unrestricted free agency or others like Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson who could be flipped to free up space, there is so much talent on Tampa Bay that someone might need to go.

One last option for the team to free up some space would be to trade Ryan Callahan and his $5.8MM cap hit, which was rumored to be discussed when the Karlsson talks were heating up. Callahan underwent another shoulder surgery at the end of May, and is nowhere near the player he once was. Though his leadership and experience is valued in the Tampa Bay locker room, his cap hit might force them to move on from another more talented player. If Yzerman is known for anything as a GM it’s avoiding giving up excess value, meaning if Callahan—who it should be noted now only has a 15-team no-trade clause—is the only way out of this issue he won’t wait to pull the trigger. Regardless of what happens, the Lightning find themselves just starting a very busy season and won’t be sitting on their hands for very long.

Free Agent Focus: Tampa Bay Lightning

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Free agency is now less than a day from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Tampa Bay’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Cedric Paquette — Nine points hardly seems like a lot of points for key restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old Paquette isn’t about offense. The defense-first forward has been a key part of the team’s bottom-six line, which included Ryan Callahan and Kunitz line that was constantly put against opponents’ top lines. Now that he’s been qualified, Paquette, who scored just five goals during the regular season (and one in the playoffs) might be more needed than ever with Kunitz likely headed elsehere. Regardless, he could be in line for a significant raise after making $812K last year on his two-year bridge deal. Now with arbitration rights, he could walk away with quite a bit more.

D Slater Koekkoek — The 24-year-old blueliner has worked hard to try and break into the deep defensive core of Tampa Bay and did manage to get into 34 games last season and avoid a trip down to the Syracuse Crunch, but Koekkoek’s usefulness came to an end after Tampa Bay acquired Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. From that point on, he appeared in just three regular season games and did not appear in the playoffs. While the team intends to bring him back, recent rumors that the team might consider trading the youngster are also a possibility. He made $800K last year on a one-year deal.

Other RFA’s: F Adam Erne.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Andrej Sustr — The 27-year-old depth defender could easily find himself on a new team with the amount of defenders under contract in Tampa Bay. The blueliner had been a regular on the Lightning’s defense over the past three years, but he found himself often a healthy scratch with the addition of players like Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Dotchin, Koekkoek as well as McDonagh. After making $1.95MM last season in the last of his restricted free agent years, the team must decide if they want to bring back the undrafted free agent they signed back in 2013.

Chris Kunitz — The 38-year-old winger was a big part of the Lightning’s shutdown line along with Callahan and Paquette in his one year with Tampa Bay, but there is little indication that Kunitz is expected return. Despite a productive season in which he tallied 13 goals and 29 points last season, rumors suggest he’s interested in a possible return to Pittsburgh.

Other UFA’s: D Mat Bodie, F Erik Condra, F Alex Gallant, D Jamie McBain, F Matthew Peca.

Projected Cap Space: The Lightning don’t have much cap space to work with this offseason as the team has just $5.3MM. On top of that, Tampa Bay has quite a few free agents they must deal with next year including Nikita Kucherov, McDonagh and Yanni Gourde to name a few, so they need to have as much cap room to maneuver with as possible. Despite their interest in John Tavares, don’t expect the team to dip heavily in the free agent market this year and more likely depend on their AHL depth to carry them through.

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