Rumor: Cup contender working on a trade to keep young prospect in the lineup

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be carrying eight defensemen to start the season and with the team looking to keep young prospect Mikhail Sergachev in the fold, GM Steve Yzerman could be looking to make a trade, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. 

Several teams are searching to bolster their blue line and could offer something interesting to the Lightning. However, the team could decide to wait it out for 10 games and eventually return Sergachev to junior before burning a year of his entry-level deal.

Another solution would be to put Slater Koekkoek and Andrei Sustr, who appear to be healthy scratches on waivers. 

Rival teams will nonetheless want to investigate on who is available and what is needed to land a defenseman.