A familiar face is back in the Lightning organization, this time on the other side of the bench.
On Thursday, Tampa Bay general manager Julien BriseBois announced that Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has been hired as the team’s new player development specialist. Bellemare, who recently retired as a player, will work under JP Cote with the Lightning’s development staff, focusing on young prospective forwards and spending time with the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay’s American Hockey League affiliate.
Bellemare’s playing career gave him plenty to pass along. He spent 10 seasons in the NHL, suiting up for the Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken before moving overseas after the 2023-24 season. In 153 regular-season games with Tampa Bay over two years, the French native scored 13 goals and totaled 33 points, then added five points during the 2022 and 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
His time with the Lightning included a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022. He also reached the Final with Vegas during the Golden Knights’ inaugural season four years earlier.
Across his NHL career, Bellemare appeared in 700 regular-season games and finished with 64 goals, 74 assists and 138 points. He also posted 15 points in 85 postseason games.
After leaving the NHL, Bellemare joined HC Ajoie of the National League in Switzerland. While there, he helped France qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
At 40, he played in all four of France’s games in Milan and scored a goal. Bellemare was also named a top-three player on the French roster six times at the lower divisions of the IIHF Men’s World Championships.