Confirmed Trade: [TBL/SEA/DET] Y Gourde (@25%), O Bjorkstrand, K Aucoin, 2026 5th to TBL; M Eyssimont, 2026 1st, 2027 1st, 2025 2nd, c. 3rds to SEA; 2025 4th to DET

[Rschmitz]

Interesting how most fans don’t see the concept of paying a premium to make sure you get your guy and the fit works great instead of doing the TDL game of haggling down prices but ending up with someone further down your list or not getting anyone at all.

Hagel-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand will be an absolute nightmare for other teams to contain or score against.

 

[Ciao]

Giving up two 1sts and a 2nd for Gourde and Bjorkstrand is insane.

Could have gotten a big fish with those assets. What the hell is Tampa doing?

Maybe not.

Tampa can't draft well anyway. This might be a better use of those picks than actually drafting players.

 

[middletoe]

In terms of value, I think Tampa overpaid. However, once this group’s Stanley Cup runs come to an end, those 1st- and 2nd-round draft picks could have theoretically helped them remain a competitive, mid-tier team rather than bottoming out. And, bottoming out is what sparked this era of success for them in the first place.

 

[missionAvs]

Great moves for the Bolts. JBB is elite.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Interesting how most fans don’t see the concept of paying a premium to make sure you get your guy and the fit works great instead of doing the TDL game of haggling down prices but ending up with someone further down your list or not getting anyone at all.

Hagel-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand will be an absolute nightmare for other teams to contain or score against.

If you find yourself educating "most fans" then perhaps it is fine to admit it may not be the best trade.

While not appealing on the surface as always if Tampa wins the Cup it will all be worthwhile. Time will tell.

Will this be a Hagel trade or a Jeannot trade?

 

[TGWL]

In terms of value, I think Tampa overpaid. However, once this group’s Stanley Cup runs come to an end, those 1st- and 2nd-round draft picks could have theoretically helped them remain a competitive, mid-tier team rather than bottoming out. And, bottoming out is what sparked this era of success for them in the first place.

If both 1st round picks take 4 years, we're looking at 5 years from now for the 1st 2026 pick. . Hagel would be the youngest top 6, and he'd be over 30. Maybe those players come in and be useful top 9 players or better players, or maybe it does nothing for them. The biggest thing Tampa needs to do is recognize when this is finished and trade the player assets they have before it's too late. Not everybody has to be a lifer. But right now picks where players are joining your team 5-6 years out,(adding 4 years to their draft) aren't more important if you still think you can compete for 3 years.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Interesting how most fans don’t see the concept of paying a premium to make sure you get your guy and the fit works great instead of doing the TDL game of haggling down prices but ending up with someone further down your list or not getting anyone at all.

Hagel-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand will be an absolute nightmare for other teams to contain or score against.

Setting the value given aside, I respect how they were pre-emptively aggressive so they weren’t the ones left standing at the end of Friday.

 

[bleedgreen]

Both first being Top 10 protected seems to make me like this for Tampa more.

I mean sure, but when has a team gotten two firsts and a second for players like this? Even if they aren’t top ten picks this is very good value for Seattle.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Tampas top 9 just got that much better. Gourde is already familiar with Coopers system and Bjorstrand will fit in well too.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

Interesting how most fans don’t see the concept of paying a premium to make sure you get your guy and the fit works great instead of doing the TDL game of haggling down prices but ending up with someone further down your list or not getting anyone at all.

Hagel-Cirelli-Bjorkstrand will be an absolute nightmare for other teams to contain or score against.

and honestly, nobody actually knows. Lots of times there have been 2-3 engagements with other teams for other players that just didn't go anywhere and never get reported. That said, this looks a lot like who JBB wanted, two solid depth forwards for picks.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

If both 1st round picks take 4 years, we're looking at 5 years from now for the 1st 2026 pick. . Hagel would be the youngest top 6, and he'd be over 30. Maybe those players come in and be useful top 9 players or better players, or maybe it does nothing for them. The biggest thing Tampa needs to do is recognize when this is finished and trade the player assets they have before it's too late. Not everybody has to be a lifer. But right now picks where players are joining your team 5-6 years out,(adding 4 years to their draft) aren't more important if you still think you can compete for 3 years.

Theres this common theme that most of the Tampa roster is 35 and over but really Glendening and Gourde are the only two "old" ones, Heddy is 34 to be faiiiiir, Kuch is 31 and Pointer is 28, Hagel, etc... you can fault Julien for some misses like Jeannot (really don't know what the expectation was there) for sure but he has also made some very shrewd moves like Hagel and Sergachev, which look to extend this window more. The glaring issue is they really need to find someone to be next in line on defense.

Really, he has done an admirable job handling a lot of things and taking a lot of shit for the Stamkos deal, which i'm still not the biggest fan of but he did get a contract offer to his age 42 season. He really needs to hit with one of Geekie/Duke/Howard to buy him more breathing room cap wise, and figure out what life looks like post 77/27.

 

[Voight]

1st+2nd for two playoff runs with Bjorkstrand is not an overpayment. Bjorkstrand is a legit 2nd line scorer who doesn't hurt you defensively and the picks are likely to be very low with minimal odds of turning into anything useful at the NHL level.

1st+Eyssimont for Gourde is a bit rich just because it seemed like he'd fallen off a bit this year even before the injury but it's a sellers' market especially for centers.

Seattle remains directionless. How do you make full on rebuilding moves like this 9 months after signing Stephenson and Montour to those contracts? They need to go all the way and move out McCann, Schwartz, Oleksiak, etc. now too.

They need to move out their mediocre GM first and foremost.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

If you find yourself educating "most fans" then perhaps it is fine to admit it may not be the best trade.

While not appealing on the surface as always if Tampa wins the Cup it will all be worthwhile. Time will tell.

Will this be a Hagel trade or a Jeannot trade?

While I understand the sentiment I think you can already look at this as, at a minimum, "not a Jeannot trade". Its not like Gourde and Bjork had one good season they're banking on like Jeannot, they actually played significant depth roles on championship teams and know the job.

 

[BoltSTH]

I don't think there are winners or losers in this, just a pure hockey trade. Bolts window is now and closed when any of those draft picks play a significant role; Kraken is going nowhere for the next few years so can wait for those picks to develop (if the do).

 

[Voight]

Since 2010/11:

ECF
Missed Playoffs
Missed Playoffs
1st Rd
SCF
ECF
Missed Playoffs
ECF
1st Rd
Cup
Cup
SCF
1st rd
1st rd

Regardless of what happens this year, that's a damn good 15 year run and they won't be slowing down for a few years yet.

Thats 7 of last 14 (or 6 of the last 11) years they've made the ECF or better. Pretty insane in the cap world

I know Vinik sold off a good portion of the team last year but he's exactly what you want for an owner. Knows he doesn't know anything about hockey so he hires the right people and lets them do their job, even if that means letting a franchise legend leave as a free agent. They let four core guys from those cup teams leave as well when they got too expensive and because hes done such a great job they were able to acquire a player like Guentzel without giving up any picks or prospects.

 

[boltsfan86]

I'm really stoked about this trade. Seattle got a haul, it's true, but I look at our already thin (but decent) group of prospects like Isaac Howard, Conor Geekie, Ethan Gaulthier, Niko Huuhtanen, Jack Finley, and Dylan Duke, and I am glad that we hung on to them and shelled out picks.

Curious to see if JBB has anything else up his sleeve. Would not be shocked if he maximizes every last dollar of cap room.

 

[uncleben]

Update on the wonkiness of this trade.

If the 2026 or 2027 pick becomes a 2028 pick due to being in the top 10, Seattle receives an additional third-round pick in 2028. If both picks slide to 2028 and 2029, respectively, Seattle receives a third-round pick in 2028 and a third-round pick in 2029.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

It’s not the spirit of the law when it’s specifically written that it can only be retained twice. It’s literally just “the law”.

it remains spirit because the intent of the cap was always to be competitive between all teams but if you abuse the LAW in order to ram as many elite players in your roster at ridiculous salaries like $575k you're going against the spirit of what the cap was all about

[MOD]

 

[Sky04]

If you find yourself educating "most fans" then perhaps it is fine to admit it may not be the best trade.

While not appealing on the surface as always if Tampa wins the Cup it will all be worthwhile. Time will tell.

Will this be a Hagel trade or a Jeannot trade?

Jeannot had 1 full season under his belt, they took a risk. Bjorkstrand and Gourde are known commodities, did you really need that explained to you? Class is in session @Rschmitz

I know Vinik sold off a good portion of the team last year but he's exactly what you want for an owner. Knows he doesn't know anything about hockey so he hires the right people and lets them do their job, even if that means letting a franchise legend leave as a free agent. They let four core guys from those cup teams leave as well when they got too expensive and because hes done such a great job they were able to acquire a player like Guentzel without giving up any picks or prospects.

Vinik has been amazing and the biggest reason the Lightning turned around as a franchise. Completely hands off on the ice and he's been super involved off the ice in the community. Glad that dude got 2 rings as a reward.

 

[OilersFanatics505]

it remains spirit because the intent of the cap was always to be competitive between all teams but if you abuse the LAW in order to ram as many elite players in your roster at ridiculous salaries like $575k you're going against the spirit of what the cap was all about

[MOD]

When you find examples of elite players at ridiculous salaries like $575k or even anything remotely close to that then you have a point. Until then it’s a strong man’s argument and not a very good one at that.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

When you find examples of elite players at ridiculous salaries like $575k or even anything remotely close to that then you have a point. Until then it’s a strong man’s argument and not a very good one at that.

Remember when you guys kept collecting 1st overall picks? That was the "LAW" wasn't it?

But do you recall why the "LAW" was changed?

[MOD]

So yes, as a devil's advocate, grabbing players @ $575k, pushing surgeries on players to keep them on IR until playoffs, and tanking y2y to collect 1st overall picks is technically "LAW" so the abuses persist and as long as the rules don't change, hey go at it

but as stated, once you detach yourself from your beloved team, and let's say LA's the one collecting 1st overalls, plugging million dollar salaries at 75% retained and asking Drew Doughty to sit this one out while we go grab a $10m million dollar player heck at 75% retained... maybe then you'll understand

until then... may the team that abuses the spirit the most WIN

But ideally, let's just remove the cap at this point

 

[TageGod]

Good to know Zucker is now worth over a 1st round pick.

 

[OilersFanatics505]

Remember when you guys kept collecting 1st overall picks? That was the "LAW" wasn't it?

But do you recall why the "LAW" was changed?

[MOD]

So yes, as a devil's advocate, grabbing players @ $575k, pushing surgeries on players to keep them on IR until playoffs, and tanking y2y to collect 1st overall picks is technically "LAW" so the abuses persist and as long as the rules don't change, hey go at it

but as stated, once you detach yourself from your beloved team, and let's say LA's the one collecting 1st overalls, plugging million dollar salaries at 75% retained and asking Drew Doughty to sit this one out while we go grab a $10m million dollar player heck at 75% retained... maybe then you'll understand

until then... may the team that abuses the spirit the most WIN

But ideally, let's just remove the cap at this point

You can play whataboutism and move the goalposts and change the subject as much as you’d like… but the fact remains that it’s not a loophole… it’s literally written in the rules that it’s allowed. There’s no specific rule stating a team can’t have multiple first overall picks in the span of a certain number of years. So your point is moot.

 

[KingPuckChoo]

You can play whataboutism and move the goalposts and change the subject as much as you’d like… but the fact remains that it’s not a loophole… it’s literally written in the rules that it’s allowed. There’s no specific rule stating a team can’t have multiple first overall picks in the span of a certain number of years. So your point is moot.

My point is only this, let's remove the cap so that everyone can have fun with the spoils

No clue why you sound angry, but stay angry my friend

 

[SympathyForTheDevils]

If you find yourself educating "most fans" then perhaps it is fine to admit it may not be the best trade.

While not appealing on the surface as always if Tampa wins the Cup it will all be worthwhile. Time will tell.

Will this be a Hagel trade or a Jeannot trade?

Most fans (especially on HF) massively overvalue draft picks. Which is why most fans also hated the previous similar trades Brisebois made (Coleman, Goodrow, Hagel, Jeannot).

And while the Jeannot trade was bad, there's a lot of hyperbole around this trade that will die down once people get a read on what Nashville got. Frankly we already have a pretty good idea:


Cal Foote is playing in Slovakia (also, charged with sexual assault)

This year's Tampa 1st rounder (and as established in this thread, late firsts rarely yield useful players)

2024 2nd rounder - Packaged with Jesse Kiiskinen to get Andrew Gibson. Looks like a rough trade now, with Kiiskinen looking like a slightly better prospect.

2023 3rd rounder - Dylan Mackinnon - 2nd-pairing dman on his QMJHL team in his D+2 season, with 6 pts in 50 games. Doesn't augur well

2023 4th rounder - Pick reacquired by Tampa in a 4th round swap. Nashville used their pick to draft Juha Jatkola, a goalie who's numbers in Liiga have decreased since being drafted

2023 5th rounder - Pick was used to move up 4 spots in the 2nd round, to draft Felix Nilsson. Nilsson is having an ok SHL season, though is probably still a long-shot to be an NHLer.


Still a bad trade for Tampa, since Jeannot was a bad fit, but all those picks aren't nearly as valuable as people think. And I think it's the same for yesterday's move. Seattle probably gets one useful NHL player out of these three picks, plus a solid young 4th liner in Eyssimont. A good trade-off for a team that won't be contending soon, but it's likely not something that will change the trajectory of the franchise all that much.