Lightning sign Charle-Edouard D’Astous to one-year contract

The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that the club has signed defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous to a one-year, two-way contract set to begin in the upcoming 2025-26 season.

D’Astous joins the Lightning after spending the 2024-25 campaign with Brynas IF Gavle of the top-tier Swedish league where through 49 appearances he tallied 12 goals and 27 assists to rank second in team scoring and first among defensemen with 39 points. D’Astous then added another eight points counting four goals and four assists through 17 postseason appearances.

Prior to joining Brynas IF Gavle, D’Astous spent two seasons with the KooKoo Kouvola of the top-ranked Finnish league. In his second season, D’Astous was presented with the Pekka Rautakallio Award as the league’s best defenseman after he posted 17 goals and 29 assists for 46 points in 54 outings. In all, through two seasons and 110 total appearances with KooKoo Kouvola, D’Astous racked up 24 goals and 45 assists for 69 points.

D’Astous’s professional experience also includes three seasons in North America, including part of two seasons in the ECHL split between the Toledo Walleye and Utah Grizzlies. With the Grizzlies in 2021-22, D’Astous was recognized as the Defenseman of the Year and earned a spot on the ECHL’s First All-Star Team after he collected 26 goals and 31 assists for 57 points in 52 contests. In all, through his two seasons in the ECHL, D’Astous totaled 29 goals and 50 assists for 79 points in 98 career contests.

D’Astous has also registered six points in 23 games over three seasons at the AHL level with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Colorado Eagles.

A 27-year-old native of Rimouski, Que., D’Astous spent four seasons with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic from 2015-19 highlighted by his fourth season where through 55 games he recorded 14 goals and 52 assists for 66 points. For his efforts, D’Astous was presented with the Emile Bouchard Trophy as the QMJHL’s Defenseman of the Year.