Yanni Gourde

BIOGRAPHY

Yanni Gourde was born December 15, 1991, in Quebec, Canada. He is a forward in the NHL.

On December 14, 2015, the Lightning recalled Gourde along with teammate Joël Vermin. On December 15, 2015, Gourde made his NHL debut in a 5–4 overtime Lightning win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Gourde also registered his first career NHL assist and point on a Mike Blunden goal.

On July 25, 2016, the Lightning announced the re-signing of Gourde to a one-year, two-way contract. Gourde appeared in two games the previous season, recording an assist and two penalty minutes. He also played in 65 games with the Crunch, recording 14 goals and 44 points.

On March 11, 2017, Gourde scored his first NHL goal, against the Florida Panthers, shorthanded on the penalty kill. In so doing, Gourde became the fourth Lightning player to score their first career goal shorthanded.

On June 26, 2017, the Lightning announced it had re-signed Gourde to a two-year, $2 million contract extension.

During the 2017–18 season Gourde was named the NHL Rookie of the Month for February. On March 6, 2018, Gourde recorded two goals in a 5-4 overtime Lightning victory over the visiting Florida Panthers. His two goal effort tied him with Tyler Johnson for the most goals during a rookie season by a Lightning player. On March 30, 2018, Gourde moved past Ondřej Palát (59) for second most points in a season by a Lightning rookie. On April 6, Gourde recorded one goal and two assists in a 7–5 Lightning victory over the visiting Buffalo Sabres. The goal moved Gourde past Tyler Johnson for most goals by a Lightning rookie, with 25. Gourde also passed Brad Richards for the most points in a season by a Lightning rookie, with 64. On April 12, Gourde made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in a 5–2 Lightning home win against the New Jersey Devils. He recorded his first career playoff goal, assist and point in the Lightning victory, becoming only the second player in Lightning history to have a multi-point game in their playoff debut.

On November 2, 2018, the Lightning signed Gourde to a six-year, $31 million contract extension. On March 22, 2019, Gourde was suspended for two games for an illegal check to the head of Carolina Hurricanes' forward Jordan Staal at PNC Arena the previous night.

On July 21, 2021, Gourde was selected from the Lightning at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft by the Seattle Kraken Expansion draft.