Yanni Gourde ahead of December return for Lightning

Gourde came back to practice Wednesday at The Bench, along with Anthony Cirelli, who had sat out Tuesday's skate.

Lightning Insider

@Erik_Erlendsson

#GoBolts still wearing the Hometown Remix pants/gloves for practice today. Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde have returned to practice, Hagel and Girgensons remain absent for maintenance purposes #TBLightning host Winnipeg on Thursday

The bigger news came after practice. Gourde is turning into a full participant, so somebody asked Cooper if he'd beat the December estimate. He didn't hedge much.

Eduardo A. Encina

@EddieInTheYard

It appears #GoBolts’ Yanni Gourde is ahead of the December return timeline we were given at the beginning of the year as he recovers from June hip surgery. Gourde is becoming a full participant in practice & asked if he’ll be back before Dec, Jon Cooper said “I would say so.”

"I would say so" is about as close as an NHL coach gets to circling a date. It's a real change from September 16, when GM Julien BriseBois used his preseason press conference to say Gourde was out until December. That meant missing at least Tampa's first 26 regular-season games. Now that window is shrinking, and the Bolts get back a guy who won 2 Cups here and does the gritty middle-six work this team has always needed.

They could use him soon, because the rest of the injury report isn't great. Brandon Hagel and Zemgus Girgensons both missed Wednesday's practice for what the team called maintenance days. Then Cooper clarified what that meant for Thursday.

Eduardo A. Encina

@EddieInTheYard

#GoBolts coach Jon Cooper said that Zemgus Girgensons is out for tomorrow’s game against #NHLJets. Brandon Hagel is a game-time decision, Cooper said.

Girgensons picked up a lower-body injury in Saturday's game against the Mammoth, so he's definitely out vs. Winnipeg. Hagel's issue hasn't been disclosed. If he can't go, Ilya Mikheyev could move into the top 6, and Dominic James is the likely call-up for Girgensons' spot. Losing Hagel even for 1 night would hurt. He's one of the engines of this team's 5-on-5 game.

So this is what to watch: Hagel's status at warmups Thursday, and whether Gourde goes from full participant to a real return date over the next few weeks. Going by Cooper, it should come before December. Getting that kind of good news while 2 other forwards are banged up is a pretty good day for Tampa.