Yanni Gourde signs big 6 year contract extension.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have come to terms on a new contract with forward Yanni Gourde, and it is a contract that is raising some eyebrows around the National Hockey League.

In an official announcement, the Lightning revealed that they had agreed to a whopping 6 year deal with Gourde, a great deal of term for a player that slots into their middle 6 group of forwards. That term however has allowed the Lightning to keep Gourde's cap hit relatively low, with this contract carrying an average annual value and cap hit of just $2.33 million per season.

According to NHL insider Renaud Lavoie, this deal also comes with a full no-movement clause.

How you view this deal will likely depend on whether or not you believe Gourde can continue to be an effective player for the length of this term, but there's no question that the Lightning got this done at a good number as far as their salary cap is concerned.

Gourde was an effective player with the Lightning for many years, eventually capturing back to back Stanley Cups as a member of the organization in 2020 and 2021, but was eventually selected by the Seattle Kraken in their expansion draft. Gourde would play parts of 4 seasons with the Kraken before returning to the Lightning this season. It seems clear based on this deal that the Lightning intend to keep Gourde within the fold for the foreseeable future, and perhaps even the rest of his NHL career.

Gourde has appeared in 602 regular season games where he has 133 goals and 214 assists for a total of 347 career points as well as 88 playoff games where he has 20 goals and 23 assists for a career total of 43 points in the postseason.

Do you like this deal? Or did the Lightning give up too much in this one? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.