TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defensemen Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Derrick Pouliot, Steven Santini and forward Jesse Ylönen to one-year, two-way contracts vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
Paquette-Bisson, 27, skated in 69 games with the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket last season and posted nine goals and 27 points with a team-leading, plus-21 rating. The 6-foot-3, 194-pound blueliner ranked second among all Laval defensemen in goals, assists (18) and scoring. Paquette-Bisson went undrafted and signed his first NHL contract on July 13, 2022 with the Los Angeles Kings. The Rosèmere, Quebec native is looking to make his NHL debut.
The 6-foot-1, 204-pound Pouliot played in 64 games with the AHL’s Texas Stars and led all defensemen in goals (9), assists (37), points (46) and power-play points (20). Pouliot, a native of Estevan, Saskatchewan appeared in five games for the Dallas Stars last season and averaged 12:08 time on ice while dishing out four hits and blocking five shots. Pouliot, 30, has played a total of 226 NHL games between the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks and Dallas. He was originally selected by Pittsburgh, eighth overall, in the 2012 NHL Draft.
Santini, a native of Bronxville, New York, skated in 64 games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign last season, registering five goals and 20 points. The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Santini ranked second among Reign defensemen for goals, tied for second in points and tied for fourth in assists (15). Santini, 29, has skated in 123 career NHL games between the New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators and St. Louis. He was originally drafted by New Jersey in the second round, 42nd overall, during the 2013 NHL Draft.
Ylönen, 24, skated in 59 games for the Montreal Canadiens last season, tallying four goals and eight points with a plus-2 rating while averaging 10:14 time on ice per game. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound winger has played in 111 career games, all with Montreal, across four seasons since making his NHL debut on May 12, 2021 against the Edmonton Oilers. Ylönen has recorded 12 goals and 29 points over the course of his NHL career. A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, Ylönen signed his first NHL contract with Montreal on March 26, 2020. He was originally selected by the Canadiens in the second round, 35th overall, in the 2018 NHL Draft.
