When he’s not flying up the wing for the Seattle Kraken, Yanni Gourde can be found perfecting his woodworking craft.
Yanni Gourde, Tye Kartye, Brandon Tanev and Tomas Tatar reminisce about their 2024 Winter Classic experience in Seattle.
Despite being passed over in the NHL Draft, Gourde has since played in nearly 500 regular-season NHL games.
The 50 rookie skaters in these playoffs are the most since teams used 54 in 2005-06. That could be a reflection of teams having greater trust in young players arriving from junior hockey or college, or the need to stock rosters with cheap talent as a greater percentage of the salary cap is devoted to the elite.
These young guns have taken their best shot, literally, in 2017-18. While they might be short on NHL experience, this handful (plus one) of rookies is seriously big on talent.