The Tampa Bay Lightning are rumored to be a team gearing up for business ahead of the NHL trade deadline. With less than 48 hours until the March 8 deadline, the Lightning have yet to make a significant move. Across the league, however, rival executives believe that Tampa is going to make a splash toward the buzzer on or near Friday's deadline.

“Wait until Friday,” a rival executive said on Wednesday night, per ESPN's Emily Kaplan. “Julien will probably trade all of his [remaining] draft picks.” Julien BriseBois is the Lightning general manager and as long as he's been with Tampa, the Lightning have been mentioned among almost every major trade target in the NHL.

The Lightning are holding onto the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and could use some reinforcements for the end of the regular season. A playoff push is on the minds of Tampa's front office and the players, so going all in and trying to improve the roster is something the Lightning will likely do.

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Tampa was rumored to be in on defenseman Noah Hanifin before the Vegas Golden Knights came swooping in to acquire him from the Calgary Flames. Vegas is trying to accomplish the same feat the Lightning did in 2021 by winning its second consecutive Stanley Cup.

After a pair of championships and a third trip to the finals over the last four seasons, the Lightning are in a precarious spot. There is aging talent on the roster to complement a prime Nikita Kucherov. Does Tampa go for one last run with their championship core or do they start to revamp for the future while trying not to damage their chances of a playoff berth this season?

Rival executives expect it to be the former.