Kraken right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand looks on during a game against the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 30 in Seattle. (AP file photo)

The Tampa Bay Lightning answered the cross-state-rival and defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers’ first couple of additions ahead of the NHL trade deadline with a big move of their own Wednesday.

The Lightning acquired forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from Seattle in a three-team trade that also involved Detroit facilitating by retaining salary.

Tampa Bay sent conditional 2026 and ’27 first-round picks, a second-rounder this year and winger Mikey Eyssimont to the Kraken and a fifth-rounder this year to the Red Wings.

Tampa Bay also received a 2026 fifth-round pick and the rights to unsigned prospect Kyle Aucoin as part of another aggressive maneuver by two-time Cup-winning general manager Julien BriseBois, who is again bolstering his team to try to make a long playoff run.

“We’re adding two players that are going to play significant minutes for us and two players that are highly competitive, have had success in the postseason in the past, have raised, have elevated their game when it matters most,” BriseBois told reporters in Tampa. “They’re skilled. They can play 200-foot games. They can be used in all sorts of situations.”

Reacquiring Gourde, who was part of those back-to-back title teams in 2020 and ’21, and adding Bjorkstrand gives coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning — currently the hottest team in the league with 10 wins in their last 12 games — some valuable depth. Gourde just returned Tuesday night from sports hernia surgery to repair an injury that caused him to miss the past two months.

The Kraken retained half of Gourde’s salary and the Red Wings another quarter, so the Lightning get him at the bargain cap hit of just under $1.3 million.

The Lightning’s salvo came hours after the Panthers remained active before the 3 p.m. EST deadline Friday, acquiring goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks for 25-year-old forward Patrick Giles.

Vanecek gives Florida depth in net, along with Chris Driedger, behind two-time Vezina Trophy-winning starter Sergei Bobrovsky, who backstopped them to their first Cup championship in franchise history last year.

The Sharks in Giles get a young player to add to their core built around No. 1 pick and rookie-of-the-year candidate Macklin Celebrini.

Giles appeared in nine NHL games for the Panthers earlier this season without a point. He has mostly been with the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Charlotte.

___

AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds and John Wawrow contributed to this report.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl