Kevin Bieksa Pushes Back On Elliotte Friedman's Reporting Regarding Kucherov Destination.

It has become something of a tradition for Canadian hockey fans to get an update on the behind the scenes of what is transpiring in the National Hockey League on Saturday night's during NHL insider Elliotte Friedman's weekly Saturday Headlines segment.

This week the story du jour was of course the shocking trade request made by reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov but, in a rather unusual twist, this time Friedman would receive some push back from his colleague on the panel.

"I do believe if Tampa was going to trade him, and Montreal and Toronto could come up with a package that Tampa would like, those are two teams among many he would consider," revealed Friedman on Saturday night.

Both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens are division rivals that are in theory competing for the very same limited number of playoff spots each and every season, a fact that caused former NHL defenseman Kevin Bieksa to push back.

"In what universe is Julien Brisebois trading him within the division?" asked a skeptical Bieksa. "In what universe is he sending him to Toronto or Montreal?"

Bieksa even went a step further and apologized for pouring cold water all over Friedman's report, but felt compelled to warn fans in both Montreal and Toronto not to get their hopes up.

"Arguably the best offensive, other than McDavid, in the world, so I'm not trying to rain on your parade but Toronto and Montreal fans just be careful, I don't think he's going there."

Friedman took no offense however with both men having a good laugh about the whole thing, but Friedman didn't push back either which may be an indication that he also believes that, despite what Kucherov himself may want, the Lightning aren't likely to trade their all-time franchise leader in points within their own division.