Jonathan Drouin met reporters in Syracuse Crunch garb Tuesday morning, and predictably declined to comment on his recent trade request made to his parent club, the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"Like I said, I'm not commenting on the situation. That's how it is. I'm just here to play hockey," he said.
When pressed about his relationship with the organization, Drouin paused before reiterating: "I'm not answering any questions about that."
Drouin's agent Allan Walsh confirmed that his camp had requested a trade in November shortly after Drouin's demotion to the AHL's Crunch. He was a regular in the Lightning's lineup until the midway portion of November, when two injuries and inconsistent performance limited him to just nine appearances over the last 10 weeks.
The 20-year-old former third overall pick has six goals and 40 points in 89 career games across parts of two seasons.