Big news on the Steven Stamkos trade rumors.

Fans who were hoping to have a star like Steven Stamkos added to their roster prior to the post season can forget about it, Stamkos has made it clear he will not accept a trade prior to the deadline.

Stamkos spoke to ESPN insider Pierre Lebrun and made his most blunt comments since this whole conversation has started, and those comments left no doubt as to his intention.

"My view hasn't changed, I want to win with Tampa," Stamkos said. "Obviously those questions will be asked. But I'm the captain of this team. I want to be with Tampa and win with this group. I've been with Tampa since Day 1, I've seen a lot of guys come and go. You saw what happened last year with this group. We want to get right back there. My view hasn't changed on the fact I want to be with Tampa and win with this group. I don't think that's going to change between now and 30 days from now."

These comments from Stamkos also put the Lightning in an extremely difficult position, they now know they can't get a return on investment leaving them with two options, sign him, or lose him for nothing.

[pub]