The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they have signed forward Yanni Gourde to a six-year, $31 million contract extension. The deal carries him through the 2024-25 season and has an AAV of $5.166 million per season. The deal also has a full no-trade clause for the first three years and a partial no-trade list for the final three. Gourde was set to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2019.
We have re-signed Yanni Gourde to a six-year contract worth $5.166 million AAV.
?: https://t.co/xVtsKTCi1p pic.twitter.com/nLNhKK0Wte
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 2, 2018
Lightning Extend Yanni Gourde for Six Years
The 26-year-old Gourde, who was never drafted, spent time with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch before finally making his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season where he played two games for the Lightning. He then played 20 games for Tampa in the 2016-17 season before finally becoming an everyday NHL player last season.
Gourde had a very successful first season in the NHL scoring 25 goals and adding 39 assists for 64 points in 82 games. So far this season he has scored four goals and 12 points in 12 games.
Over his career Gourde has 35 goals and 50 assists for 85 points in 116 career games.
What This Means for the Future
Gourde has been a pleasant surprise for the Lightning since entering the league and helps fill out a very potent second line for Tampa playing with Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson as all three are scoring at, or close to a point per game pace. With Tampa locking up Gourde, they no longer have any forwards on their current roster with UFA status in July. They also have all their core forwards now locked up long-term outside of Brayden Point. It’s just another step in the right direction for the Tampa Bay Lightning who are looking to get back into Stanley Cup contention. Locking up a player like Gourde solidifies that not only now, but in the future as well.
With Gourde out of the way, the Lightning can now set their focus to extending Point as his ELC ends at the end of this season. As well as getting some of their defence under contract, as they have four defensemen set to become UFA’s at the end of this season.
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