Earlier this month, the Tampa Bay Lightning signed forward Yanni Gourde to a six-year extension worth an average of $5.1 million annually for a total of $31 million over the length of the contract. Gourde’s atypical development path makes this interesting.
As has been covered extensively, Gourde was undrafted out of the QMJHL. Getting overlooked as a point-per-game player in his draft year is understandable. But 124 points in his overage season probably should’ve caught someone’s attention. Instead he bounced around the AHL and ECHL for a year before putting up 34 points in 30 games in Kalamazoo and earning an opportunity with the Lightning organization in Syracuse.