TAMPA -- Yanni Gourde returned to Amalie Arena as if he never departed the Tampa Bay Lightning. He is back in his corner stall of the locker room and will wear the same No. 37 jersey tonight against the Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; ESPN) that he wore for his first six seasons in the NHL.

Yanni Gourde was told Wednesday at 9 a.m. Pacific time that he was getting traded, but the Seattle Kraken couldn’t tell him his destination right away. Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand waited for three hours — until two players cleared waivers for the Lightning — before they could be informed they were heading to Tampa Bay as the main pieces of a three-team trade that also included the Red Wings.

The Tampa Bay Lightning organization believes that adding two elite forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand will be the push they need to make a deep playoff run.