Rumor: Flyers gearing up to take a run at Johnny Gaudreau.

We are now only a few short days from the official opening of free agency in the National Hockey League and one of the biggest unanswered questions leading up to the big day on Wednesday is what does the future hold for Calgary Flames star forward Johnny Gaudreau.

Gaudreau is coming off what was inarguably the best season of his career in the NHL, and as a result he is also in line for a massive payday one way or another. The only question that remains now is whether or not Gaudreau will accept an 8 year contract offer from his current team, the Flames, or if he will instead choose to hit the open market and try to maximize his value on a 7 year contract as an unrestricted free agent.

Although Gaudreau has yet to make a decision, or even so much as provide a hint on which way the wind may be blowing, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman made comments following the NHL draft that suggested there may be some signs to watch for when it comes to Gaudreau's status. Specifically, Friedman suggested that the Philadelphia Flyers would be the team to monitor for information on where Gaudreau might end up.

"Philly I think is going to be interesting," said Friedman on his most recent podcast. "I think a lot of people are watching Philly, what does Philly do? Because by adding this number for DeAngelo they don't have the space for Gaudreau. So I think what a lot of people are looking at is, if Philly starts to clear room is that a sign of where they are going? If Philly keeps where they are, is that another sign of where they are going?

"I think if you're waiting for the papal signals on Gaudreau, you're watching Philly and you're seeing what they do with their roster as a, kind of, key to where this is going."

If Friedman was indeed correct in his prediction we may have just received our first clue. According to a report from Stefen Rosner of Islanders Hockey Now, the Flyers are reportedly trying to move the contract of first round draft pick Ivan Provorov, which currently carries a cap hit of $6.75 million and has 3 more years remaining on the deal.

That would certainly be a move that could free up a significant amount of cap space for a potential Johnny Gaudreau acquisition in free agency.