Marc Bergevin tried to trade for Ryan O'Reilly two years ago

It's a good thing friend of the site and intrepid La Presse reporter Marc Antoine Godin was watching TV tonight, because former Montreal Canadiens defenseman and development coach Patrice Brisebois dropped a bit of a bomb:

Patrice Brisebois just said on television that Marc Bergevin tried to land Ryan O'Reilly two years ago when he was on holdout.

— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) January 20, 2015

That's right, after dealing with the P.K. Subban contract that ended up with a two-year bridge deal, Bergevin was working the phone trying to trade for possession beast Ryan O'Reilly. Brisebois didn't get into the package that Bergevin offered for the well-regarded young center, but you can probably assume that the package would be huge.

Clearly Bergevin didn't attempt to sign O'Reilly to an offer sheet, since the Flames attempted that only to be embarrassed to learn that he would have to pass through waivers anyway, and the Avalanche matched their offer anyhow.

Considering the desperation Colorado had at the time for help on defense—and still has today—it's not unreasonable to think that the newly signed Subban could have been dealt for O'Reilly, which would have been a gigantic mistake, but that's assuming the worst of Bergevin.

Either way, it's an interesting little tidbit. Sometimes the deals that don't happen tell you the most about a manager.