Lightning GM Drops Big Nikita Kucherov Update After Trade Request

Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois has announced through an official statement that the team has no intention of trading Nikita Kucherov despite his now public trade request. 

"We are aware of the media reports regarding the future of Nikita Kucherov with the Lightning. We unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita," BriseBois announced. 

It is not necessarily surprising to hear that BriseBois is not interested in trading Kucherov at this time. The Lightning are among the top teams in the Eastern Conference early on this season, and Kucherov is their best player. Thus, it makes sense that the team wants to keep Kucherov around at this time. 

There is still plenty of time between now and the trade deadline, so Kucherov will certainly still create chatter. However, with the Lightning looking to go on a playoff run this spring, keeping Kucherov as their own rental could make sense for them.

It will now be interesting to see how things go for the Lightning with Kucherov requesting a trade. It is certainly a shocking development for the Bolts.