By Canadian Press

Lightning acquire Gourde and Bjorkstrand and Panthers get Vanecek as NHL trade action heats up

Mar 5, 2025 | 2:28 PM

The Tampa Bay Lightning have answered the cross-state-rival and defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers’ first couple of additions ahead of the NHL trade deadline with a big move of their own.

The Lightning on Wednesday acquired forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle in a three-team trade that also involved Detroit facilitating by retaining salary. They sent conditional 2026 and ’27 first-round picks, a second-rounder this year and winger Mikey Eyssimont to the Kraken and a fifth-rounder this year to the Red Wings.

Tampa Bay also received a 2026 fifth-round pick and the rights to unsigned prospect Kyle Aucoin as part of another aggressive maneuver by two-time Cup-winning general manager Julien BriseBois, who is again bolstering his team to try to make a long playoff run.

Reacquiring Gourde, who was part of those back-to-back title teams in 2020 and ’21, and adding Bjorkstrand gives coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning — currently the hottest team in the league with 10 wins in their last 12 games — some valuable depth. Gourde just returned Tuesday night from sports hernia surgery to repair an injury that caused him to miss the past two months.

The Kraken retained half of Gourde’s salary and the Red Wings another quarter, so the Lightning get him at the bargain cap hit of just under $1.3 million. The first-round picks the next two years are top-10 protected, and Seattle could receive additional compensation as a result.

“Oliver and Yanni were tremendous players for our organization who led by example on and off the ice, and I wish them all the best in their next chapter with the Lightning,” Kraken GM Ron Francis said. “Decisions like these are never easy, but creating this valuable cap space and draft capital allows us to be active in improving our team moving forward.”

The Lightning’s salvo came hours after the Panthers remained active before the 3 p.m. EST deadline Friday, acquiring goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for 25-year-old forward Patrick Giles.

Vanecek gives Florida depth in net, along with Chris Driedger, behind two-time Vezina Trophy-winning starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who backstopped them to their first Cup championship in franchise history last year.

That’s a depth move, and the real one Tampa Bay is responding to was the Panthers acquiring top-four defenseman Seth Jones from Chicago in a weekend blockbuster that sent goalie Spencer Knight and a first-round pick to the Blackhawks.

Florida will be the fourth NHL organization for Vanecek, who was 3-10-3 in 18 appearances with San Jose this season. The Sharks held him out of their game Tuesday night at Buffalo in preparation of trading the 29-year-old from Czechia.

“It’s part of the business,” said Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev, who was traded there from Colorado for Mackenzie Blackwood earlier this season. “Unfortunately sometimes players get moved. … Hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him.”

The Sharks in Giles get a young player to add to their core built around No. 1 pick and rookie-of-the-year candidate Macklin Celebrini. Giles appeared in nine NHL games for the Panthers earlier this season without a point. He has mostly been with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Charlotte.

San Jose in a corresponding roster move recalled Georgi Romanov from the Barracuda of the AHL.

The goalie market ahead of the 3 p.m. EST deadline Friday remains thin outside of perhaps Anaheim’s John Gibson, but other talks continue to pick up around the league. After signing pending free agent tough guy Mathieu Olivier to a six-year, $18 million extension, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell signaled he’s open for business — to a certain extent.

“We’re certainly making calls and taking calls,” Waddell said. “I’ve said all along: We’re not in the position to trade first-round picks for rental players or anything like that. If we can add around the edges, certainly we’re going to try that. I’m more interested in hockey deals with maybe players that have term left on their contract. We’re exploring obviously as many of those as we can.”

The Blue Jackets have a handful of other pending UFAs, who Waddell does not expect to re-sign before the deadline but might keep just to help his team fight for a playoff spot.

“If I rip a guy out of this locker room right now (who is) playing a role for us on this hockey club right now, I think that’s pretty devastating to our team,” Waddell said. “I think it’s the wrong message from my end. I think it’s the wrong message to our fans, the coaches and the players.”

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AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds and John Wawrow contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press