Jon Cooper Explains Why Lightning Value Yanni Gourde

The 2025–26 season has tested the Tampa Bay Lightning in just about every way imaginable. Injuries have piled up, lines have shifted, and roles have changed on a near nightly basis. Through it all, though, the identity of the team hasn’t disappeared — it’s just been forced to adapt.

That adaptability has shown up in different forms. Some nights, it’s the stars carrying the load. Other nights, it’s depth players stepping into bigger roles and delivering in key moments. The constant has been effort, a refusal to fade even when the game starts slipping away.

There’s also been a noticeable edge to Tampa Bay’s game. They forecheck hard, they pressure relentlessly, and they don’t give opponents much time to breathe. It’s a style that wears teams down over 60 minutes, even if it doesn’t always show up cleanly on the scoreboard early.

Few players embody that identity more than Yanni Gourde. And now that he’s back in Tampa, it’s become even clearer just how much the Lightning value what he brings.

Why Yanni Gourde Perfectly Fits Tampa Bay’s Identity

After helping the Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cups, Gourde became one of the faces of the Seattle Kraken following the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. He spent four seasons there before finding his way back to Tampa Bay in March of 2025.

Ahead of a recent matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Jon Cooper was asked what has changed about Gourde since his first stint with the team:

"The kid just has an engine that doesn’t stop. That’s why we love him. He just has the fountain of youth, that kid. I don’t know, great genes or whatever it is, but he just still plays the game with heart and soul. And he has not lost a step; he hasn’t lost anything in his game that you’d think as you’re getting older you would. When he left here, he’s the same guy we got back, and he’s a big part of our organizations."