Grading the Gourde/Bjorkstrand trade: Kraken wisely take a knee, Lightning load up
It’s not a Trade Deadline until the Tampa Bay Lightning join the party.
Lightning GM Julien BriseBois parted with a heap of future assets on Wednesday to acquire scrappy centerman Yanni Gourde, who won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Bolts in 2020 and 2021, and middle-six scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand from the struggling Seattle Kraken.
Bold midseason trades are BriseBois’s bread and butter, and he has proven once more he’s willing to double and triple down on a group he believes in.
For Seattle’s part, the trade, which yielded them two first-round picks, was a necessary first step toward reworking a roster that was too expensive to be so bland.
Two prominent players from Frank Seravalli’s Trade Targets Board are on the move to a bonafide contender, two first-round selections are going the other way, and the latest edition of Daily Faceoff’s Trade Grades is in order.
Detroit Red Wings
Receive:
$1,291,667 cap hit through 2025 (Gourde)
2025 fourth-round pick (TBL)
The Red Wings were set to have over $10 million in accrued cap space by Friday’s deadline, an amount they couldn’t have exceeded with even the most aggressive of trade strategies. With most of the league’s bottom feeders out of cap retention slots, Yzerman stepped up as a surprise trade facilitator and got a mid-round flier from his former team for his troubles. Who doesn’t like free stuff?
Grade: A
Seattle Kraken
Receive:
F Michael Eyssimont, $800,000 cap hit through 2025
$2.583 million cap hit through 2025 (Gourde)
2025 second-round pick (TOR)
2026 first-round pick (TBL)
2027 first-round pick (TBL)
It was about time Kraken GM Ron Francis saw the writing on the wall. Francis’s hodgepodge of middle-six forwards and second-pair defensemen was already overripe when the Hall-of-Famer took a big swing in the offseason by signing two 30-year-olds in Brandon Montour, who has been excellent, and Chandler Stephenson, who has not.
Those deals meant Francis had cultivated a roster that, despite a surprise run in 2022-23, was neither good enough to contend nor young and cheap enough to improve.
Bjorkstrand and Gourde were just two of at least a half-dozen Seattle forwards better served in complementary roles. Moving them on will clear the way for coach Dan Bylsma to place a higher priority on young players like Kaapo Kakko and Shane Wright.
Three premium assets came back to Seattle in the trade, and, after a difficult season that has seen him slowed down by age and injury, Gourde (5 G, 17 P in 36 GP) would have been lucky to fetch one on his own. Does that mean Bjorkstrand, a steady if unspectacular 50-point player, was worth a first and a second?
Probably not. Sometimes, a good trade means finding a good trade partner, which was critical for Seattle here. The Kraken offered Tampa, a team that’s too deep into its contention window to fret over picks, an opportunity to address holes up and down its lineup while reuniting with an old friend in Gourde.
There’s plenty more clutter to clear out, but this trade was a positive start.
Grade: A
Tampa Bay Lightning
Receive:
F, Oliver Bjorkstrand, $5.4 million cap hit through 2026
F, Yanni Gourde, $1,291,667 cap hit through 2025
The Lightning were never going to sit this deadline out, not least of all after their biggest rival made a major addition over the weekend.
‘JBB’ knew coach Jon Cooper needed at least another forward to cash in on what’s already been an excellent regular season; despite Tampa’s glowing 36-21-4 record, ‘Coop’ was deploying seven defensemen on most nights and had resorted to playing veteran forechecker Zegmus Girgensons (1 G in 61 GP) on his second unit.
Gourde isn’t the dynamo who posted 64 points in 2018-19 anymore, but he’s still a big improvement on Mikey Eyssimont, who’s headed the other way, in a sparkplug role. The veteran Quebecer will provide Nick Paul some much-needed help on the third line and second penalty kill.
Bjorkstrand isn’t quite as versatile as Gourde, but he brings reliable scoring pop on the wing (24.6 G, 53 P per 82 GP since 2018) and has an opportunity to lock down a spot opposite Brandon Hagel on the Cirelli line, one of the NHL’s best despite a rotating cast of characters on the right side.
Still just 29, the Dane is locked up through next season and could play himself into Tampa’s long-term plans.
BriseBois paid steeply for this deal, perhaps due to his familiarity with Gourde, but the fit was too good to pass up. The Tanner Jeannot fiasco notwithstanding, BriseBois has made countless home run moves at the deadline, and this could be another.
Grade: B+
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Get ready, hockey fans! The Daily Faceoff Deadline is happening on March 7th from 11 AM to 4 PM Eastern, and you won’t want to miss it. We’ll be LIVE, breaking down every trade and big move as it happens, with instant reactions and expert analysis from the Daily Faceoff crew. Plus, we’ve got special guests lined up throughout the show, offering exclusive insights from some of the biggest names in the game. From blockbuster trades to surprise moves, we’re covering it all. Tune in to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel and follow Daily Faceoff socials on March 7th to catch all the action!
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