Posts About "Yanni Gourde"
Russian Goaltending Dominates as Stars Take Game 1
September 20th, 2020 The first game of the Stanley Cup Final between the West third-seeded Dallas Stars and the East second-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning went to the Stars. When the NHL announced their Return to Play plan, I was a little skeptical we would ever get to this point amidst a global pandemic, but after nearly two months and zero positive tests,...
QMJHL Alumni Shine in the Playoffs
September 1st, 2020 The QMJHL has always been known as a scorer's league, and some of their alumni are bringing those skills to the biggest stages in Edmonton and Toronto. Nathan MacKinnon is one of the most accomplished QMJHL graduates, and he has become one of the top players in the NHL. His dominance is on full display in Edmonton, as he has...
Lightning Giving Blue Jackets Dose of Own Defensive Medicine
August 19th, 2020 The Tampa Bay Lightning have high-end offense. Everyone knows that. The Columbus Blue Jackets have a stout defense. Everyone knows that too. It's the unstoppable force (Lightning offense) against the immovable object (Blue Jackets defense.) Who would win such an epic battle? So far after four intense games, it's actually the...
Lightning: Gourde Earning His Keep in the Playoffs
August 16th, 2020 When Yanni Gourde made his NHL debut back in the 2015-16 season, he looked like the quintessential Tampa Bay Lightning forward. As an undersized, undrafted free-agent with incredible scoring potential, he led the QMJHL in scoring during the 2011-12 season en route to winning league MVP. After that impressive season, Gourde earned a...
Devils' Trading Partners: The Lightning Have What They Need
August 3rd, 2020 Weaponizing cap space is not a luxury many teams have. But it's something the New Jersey Devils have done to a great extent over the last few seasons. Whether it was acquiring Marcus Johansson in 2017 or Nikita Gusev almost a year ago, they've used their available cap space to their advantage. It won't be any different...
Lightning: When Will the Fourth Line Find Stability?
November 15th, 2019 Heading into the 2019-20 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning saw a fair amount of roster overhaul that reshaped the team that won 62 games in 2018-19. While star forwards like Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov retained their top billing in the lineup, the Lightning's fourth line saw massive changes. Whether it was due to...
Lightning: Will Gourde Continue to Evolve His Game?
September 30th, 2019 Few players in the NHL will experience a career trajectory quite like that of Yanni Gourde. After going undrafted, he led the QMJHL scoring race during the 2011-12 season, bounced around the San Jose Sharks' ECHL and AHL affiliates for a few seasons before finding a home with the Tampa Bay Lightning. While it took a few years for him...
Lightning: Worst Contracts for the 2019-20 Season
August 17th, 2019 As the Tampa Bay Lightning developed a core of highly talented players over the course of the last decade, they consistently found ways to keep these stars around. By signing players to long-term contracts, they were often able to trade immediate cap hit for security, avoiding overpaying for their core. This has created a somewhat...
Devils Need to Add a Top-Six Winger
July 6th, 2019 The New Jersey Devils addressed some big-time needs this offseason. They acquired a top-four defenseman in P.K. Subban and added center Jack Hughes through the Entry Draft. They also signed unrestricted free agent (UFA) right winger Wayne Simmonds, who'll add some physicality to the lineup, to a one-year deal worth $5 million. Wayne...
Gourde Signing Is High Risk, High Reward for Lightning
November 6th, 2018 Yanni Gourde has a unique story. After putting up 124 points in junior, he didn't have the impact people expected. He nearly gave up professional hockey but decided to give it one more shot with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. From there, Gourde was promoted to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL and now, in his second full...
NHL News & Notes: Gourde, Tkachuk & More
November 2nd, 2018 In today's News & Notes, Yanni Gourde has signed a big contract extension, Brady Tkachuk is approaching a return and both Alex Formenton and Evan Bouchard have been returned to the London Knights of the OHL. Related: NHL News & Notes: Ryan Donato, Jesse Puljujarvi & More Gourde Signs Contract Extension The Tampa Bay...
Gourde Signs Contract Extension With Lightning
November 2nd, 2018 The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Yanni Gourde to a six-year contract extension worth $31 million, the team announced Friday. Gourde is in the second year of a two-year deal that he signed with the team in 2017. He'll be seeing a sizeable increase in annual salary as his current deal pays him $1 million per season while his new...
Lightning's Contract Conundrum With Gourde
October 22nd, 2018 In the quest to capture the Stanley Cup, every team will inevitably bleed talent as they attempt to retain franchise faces while staying under the leagues' hard cap ceiling. If handled improperly, a franchise can be forced to trade a keystone player for pennies on the dollar or get nothing out of one of their former stars...
