There are two sides to every story.

We’ve heard Nikita Kucherov’s side. The trade request, the alleged disrespect and lack of communication, even down to the reported offers from the Tampa Bay Lightning as his agent Dan Milstein begins to make the media rounds.

What we haven’t heard yet is the view of the Tampa Bay Lightning. General Manager Julien BriseBois issued a two-sentence statement after Elliotte Friedman’s bombshell that Kucherov told teammates he was not re-signing in Tampa and requested a trade.

“We unequivocally have no intention of trading Nikita,” BriseBois’s statement said.

BriseBois has held firm on that.

According to multiple league sources, calls flooded in to BriseBois in the hours and days since the shockwave – but the answer has remained consistent.

One team was told: “We’re not trading Kucherov now. We’re not trading Kucherov at the deadline. It’s his right to become a free agent, but he’s ours through June 30.”

There hasn’t been much back and forth because it appears BriseBois isn’t caught up in the rhetoric. The Lightning are playing the long game.

After Leo Carlsson’s........

© Sportsnet