Rumor: Flyers missed out on opportunity to trade for star forward.

There was a big trade announced today between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, but it's one that almost never came to pass.

According to a report from Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman the Philadelphia Flyers were reportedly close to acquiring star forward Jonathan Drouin, the best player in today's deal, well before this deal ever happened.

“I think Philadelphia was a team that was pretty close to getting him, but Montreal was in the bid," said Friedman as per Fanrag's Chris Nichols."

According to Friedman the Flyers came close to acquiring him back when Drouin had demanded a trade from the Lightning, and although Friedman didn't elaborate on what the Flyers offered, it's easy to speculate. 

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Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman has been looking for a quality defenseman to add to his roster and the Flyers are deep in terms of both young defensemen as well as defensive prospects. 

You can be sure Yzerman would have asked for a high-end defenseman like Ivan Provorov or perhaps even Shayne Gostisbehere in such a trade.