Scouting Report: How Tampa Bay inspired NHL alum Stephen Gionta’s transition to scout

It was Independence Day weekend in 2019, and Stephen Gionta was preparing to celebrate the holiday with family and friends.

Less than three months prior, the then-35-year-old forward was skating in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the New York Islanders’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. 

Gionta's playing days were barely in the rearview when his phone rang.

Current Tampa Bay Lightning Associate General Manager and Director of Player Personnel Jamie Pushor carried the conversation, quickly offering Gionta a job in Tampa Bay’s scouting department.

“As we went through conversations, I didn't know if I wanted to take time or get into the business right away,” Gionta said. “But the more I talked to Jamie, the more I was intrigued, especially with Tampa’s organization. Obviously playing against them, you knew how good they were, how close they were to winning. It was the conversations you have when you’re immediately like, ‘This is a first-class organization’, and it was hard to not go forward with it.”

After some talk about becoming a college scout—the forward played at Boston College from 2002 to 2006—Gionta wound up in Tampa Bay’s professional scouting team and has held the role ever since. 

The upcoming 2026-27 season will be Gionta's eighth with Tampa Bay in what’s become the perfect post-playing career.

“Tampa values your opinion, and that was also a massive draw. You're on the ground doing work, and then they're taking your opinion. We probably had four or five conversations that went through everything, and how do you say no to an organization like Tampa? That was kind of the final thing for me. It was like, ‘Holy cow. Tampa's reaching out and they’re interested.’ When guys are retiring through agents and stuff like that they say, ‘Hey, maybe this guy could be a fit’, and that’s probably how my name got dropped.”

His front office work followed 325 NHL games between the Islanders and New Jersey Devils in addition to 447 more AHL contests over a 13-year playing career. He was never set on becoming a scout until his conversation with Pushor.

During his playing days, he heard the constant reminder that someone is watching—someone is scouting—every game. He knows now that those words weren’t just a cliche or motivation tactic.

“I really didn't fully understand what went into it until we started having those conversations,” he said. “As a player, you always hear that, yeah, there's someone at games, but there really is someone at every single game. As you have those conversations, you kind of realize that you’re a part of it. You're in the middle of it. You're in the decision making.”

To Gionta, the hardest part of his role involves navigating his kids’ schedules with his work, he admitted through a laugh. That’s partly because he prides himself on staying ever-present with his family despite a busy scouting role.

And it is busy.

Gionta, who lives in Rochester, New York, attends around 20 games each month between the NHL and AHL across the Northeastern region of teams. He tracks prospects and creates reports to follow every pro player in the region, including those who could become trade targets and players approaching free agency.

He sees plenty of Lightning AHL prospects on the Syracuse Crunch roster since they’re so close. With the Buffalo Sabres and their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, also nearby, he catches frequent viewings of players facing those teams as well.

Gionta also travels outside New York to catch teams in other states across the region.

“You’ve got to fit the puzzle in each month and see throughout the Northeast and fit in all those teams.”

He joined the Bolts in 2019, just before back-to-back Stanley Cups and some major trade acquisitions.

Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Brandon Hagel all came to mind when Gionta was asked of recent additions that stand out in his mind. He also pointed to Pat Maroon and Kevin Shattenkirk.

“It’s not always the top six, top line guys. Sometimes you need those, but sometimes it's tweaking around the edges to find what suits and what makes you a deeper team.”

Blake Coleman was one player Gionta got to see often in his region while the former played for the New Jersey Devils. Gionta called that pickup a no-brainer with Coleman’s contract and production, and the trade acquisition helped the team win two Stanley Cups.

“Coleman, we thought he could be a potential top six, top nine guy and give us 20 goals. And if he's playing a significant role for that money, that's huge value. And then obviously there’s Hagel. We all loved him, but him coming in and becoming the player he is, that’s icing on the cake, right? We saw something in him. He’s a Bolt, right? And sure enough, that's exactly what we got plus some.”

Is there one thing all of those players share? In Gionta’s eyes, it’s a “high-end compete level”, a trait all players must possess in order to be considered by the Lightning.

“If you don't have the ability to compete, whether it's one-on-one or whatever the situation, I think that's something that stands out right away. That, ‘Hey, that guy competes like someone that we want. That guy's going to help you win championships based on how he competes.’ And there's different ways of competing, right? It's not always just physically. It's you're still winning your battle, how are you winning the puck? How are you competing to help us win? And guys do it differently, but that is something that's highly valued within the entire scouting world.”

The once undrafted Gionta carved out a pro hockey career of nearly 800 games. Now he's built a new path—one he never saw coming—in Tampa Bay’s scouting department.

His playing days are over. But his drive to keep winning? That hasn’t lightened at all.

“You're watching hockey for a living, and you're in an organization that wants to compete every year and that is competing every year to win, and that drives that competitiveness,” Gionta said. “While I'm not on the ice anymore, you’re still highly competitive in the regard that you want to try to put the best team on the ice to help those guys succeed.”