Gourde returned to where his NHL career began when he was acquired by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a three-team trade with the Seattle Kraken and Detroit Red Wings on March 5, 2025. He played the previous four seasons for the Kraken, who chose him in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, after he helped the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and '21.

He signed a six-year, $13.98 million contract with the Lightning on June 2, 2025, in lieu of becoming an unrestricted free agent. It had an average annual value of $2.33 million.

Gourde's small size (5-foot-9, 174 pounds) belied the big impact he made during the Lightning's first run to the Cup. The native of Saint-Narcisse, Quebec, had 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 25 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Two of the goals were game-winners. His plus-12 rating was tied for fifth among all players.

Gourde was undrafted and played four seasons with Victoriaville of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In 2011-12, he led the QMJHL in scoring with 124 points (37 goals, 87 assists) and won the Michel Briere Trophy as most valuable player.

On March 10, 2014, Gourde signed as a free agent with the Lightning after he had 24 points (four goals, 20 assists) in 25 games for Worcester of the American Hockey League. He was assigned to Syracuse of the AHL for the remainder of the 2013-14 season as part of a two-year, two-way contract.

The following season, he scored 57 points, including a team-high 29 goals, in 76 games for Syracuse. In 2015-16, he had 44 points (14 goals, 30 assists) in 65 games and was recalled by Tampa Bay on Dec. 14, 2015. Gourde made his NHL debut the following night and had an assist in a 5-4 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 2016-17, Gourde had 48 points (22 goals, 26 assists) in 56 games for Syracuse before being recalled on Feb. 27, 2017. He scored his first NHL goal in a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers on March 11 and finished the season with eight points (six goals, two assists) in 20 games.

On June 26, 2017, Tampa Bay re-signed Gourde to a two-year, one-way contract. He played in all 82 games with the Lightning and was fourth on the team with 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 2017-18, then scored seven points (two goals, five assists) in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Gourde scored 22 goals, including five game-winners, in 2018-19, helping the Lightning match an NHL single-season record with 62 victories. He dropped to 10 goals in 2019-20, but scored five game-winners for the third consecutive season.