TAMPA BAY - The Tampa Bay Lightning have hired recently retired NHL forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare as player development specialist, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today. Bellemare will join the development staff under JP Cote, focusing on forward prospects and will spend time working with the Syracuse Crunch staff and players.
Bellemare, 41, played in a total of 700 career NHL games between the Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, Seattle Kraken and the Lightning, recording 64 goals and 138 points. A native of Le Blanc-Mesnil, France, Bellemare skated in 153 games for Tampa Bay from 2021 to 2023, posting 13 goals, 33 points and a plus-15 rating.
Bellemare announced his retirement from hockey this summer after spending the 2025-26 season skating for HC Ajoie of the Swiss National League. Bellemare also skated in four contests representing France at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, scoring one goal and averaging 18:24 of time on ice.
Bellemare was originally undrafted and signed by Philadelphia as a free agent on March 2, 2015.
