After a disappointing end to the 2024-25 season and a first-round playoff exit for the third year, there have been some changes in the front office and on the ice for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
There had to be some changes within the franchise, and the first changes occurred in the front office.
Mathieu Darche, the Assistant General Manager/Director of Hockey Operations and right-hand man of GM Julien BriseBois, left the Lightning after six seasons to become the new GM of the New York Islanders. Also, the team parted ways with long-time head of player development Stacy Roest after 12 years with the organization. Roest headed the player development department as an assistant general manager and general manager of their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch.
These two departures leave the Lightning with two huge holes in their hockey operations department that BriseBois must fill.
The Lightning will also need to find an assistant coach to work with Jon Cooper behind the bench as assistant coach Jeff Blashill was hired as the new head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. Blashill spent the last three seasons on the bench with Cooper. He coached defense and the PK for the Lightning.
With the NHL new year beginning on June 27th and free agency opening on July 1, the Lightning need to fill these positions quickly.
The Lightning have also begun to tweak the roster a bit, signing forward Jack Finley to a three-year contract. It will be a two-year contract for the 25-26 season and then a one-way contract for the remaining two years. Finley, a second-round pick in the 2025 draft, spent the past season with the Crunch, outside of one game with the Lightning. The 22-year-old scored a career high 14 goals and tallied 14 assists for the Crunch with a +11 rating. Finley is expected to compete for a spot in the bottom-six forward group this season.
The Lightning also signed defenseman Maxwell Crozier to a three-year contract. Croazier was set to become a restricted free agent this offseason before the new deal. Unlike the Finley signing, the Crozier contract is a one-way contract. Croazier is expected to compete for a spot on the Lightning’s third defensive line. Crozier has played in two games with the Lightning the past two seasons, registering two assists. Crozier spent most of his time on the Syracuse blueline, where he scored nine goals and 24 assists for 34 points in 52 games.
The Lightning have signed four AHL players to new contracts, including Harrison Meneghin, Wojciech Stachowiak, Ryan Fanti, and Steven Santini.
The Bolts have also signed backup goaltender Jonas Johansson to a new two-year contract, and forward Yanni Gourde has been inked to a new six-year deal.
This is a good deal for both parties. It will cost the Lightning just 2.33 million a year, and the deal comes with a no-trade clause, giving Gourde peace of mind. Financially, it’s a good deal for the Bolts, but Gourde will be 39 when the contract expires. This contract should work to the Bolts’ advantage during the first half, but Gourde will be 39 when the contract expires, and his time as an effective NHL player could be over by then.
This is the same type of deal that BriseBois offered Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn, but was turned down. Gourde takes a massive pay cut from his previous contract, but the Lightning feels he still has something to offer. Gourde won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. He was then selected by Seattle in the expansion draft before coming back to Tampa in a trade deadline deal last season.
BriseBois talked about Gourde at his season-ending press conference. “He’s still a really good player. His main quality is his speed, his competitiveness, his relentlessness, his fearlessness.”
Cam Atkinson, Nick Perbix, and Luke Glendening will test the free agent market on July 1st.
GM Julien BriseBois does not expect the Lightning to be very active this summer. He believes the Lightning have a very good team and solid nucleus and will see how things play out.
The Lightning also announced they have terminated the contract of forward Conner Sheary. Sheary played in four games last season with no points, four penalty minutes, and a -4 rating.