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After a relatively tame first day of free agency, the Philadelphia Flyers began Thursday with the lingering question of whether they should bring a franchise legend back.
As TSN’s Pierre Lebrun reported just before the noon yesterday that the Flyers were expected to be one of several teams vying to sign former captain Claude Giroux after he went to market. During his press conference yesterday, general manager Daniel Briere indicated contact had been made between Giroux’s camp and the team. As of this writing, nothing has been determined.
There’s a few ways to look at a possible reunion with Giroux. When he played his 1,000th and (at the time) final game as a Flyer, there was a strong feeling of a chapter in team history closing.
After former GM Chuck Fletcher’s failed attempt to put a championship level roster around Giroux during Alain Vigneault’s tenure, he was traded to the Florida Panthers in order to pursue a Stanley Cup. Coincidentally, a piece of the Flyers present came in the form of winger Owen Tippett.
That summer, Giroux decided to sign with the Ottawa Senators, near his childhood home of Hearst, Ontario. He has played the last four seasons there and remained in the top nine forward group. He has played nearly a full season in all of them (81 games in 2024-25). While his overall point totals have dropped over time (from 35 goals and 79 points in his first season to 49 points), he had his best plus-minus (plus 20) since the 2017-18 season.
The Pros
As noted, Giroux is not the near-100 point threat he was during his time with the Flyers. At 38 years old, that’s not something that can be expected of him. The role expected for him would be ideally sheltered for maximum efficiency. Last season, he dropped almost two full minutes of ice time per game (16:18 compared to 18:12 from the previous season).
Therefore, the Flyers would have to balance him with the fourth youngest roster in the NHL. With friend and captain Sean Couturier anchoring the Flyers fourth line, it would seem an ideal spot for him to work the off wing at five on five. He would also provide veteran insurance in the event of injuries and can even pinch-hit on face-offs.
Additionally, Giroux could bring a well-spring of experience and know-how to a young forward group, most notably Matvei Michkov.
Where Giroux probably has his biggest potential value is as a power-play valve. He can take offensive zone draws and has the natural instincts and know-how in moving the puck. Last season, Giroux played 178:47 of power-play ice time (2:11 per game). He scored one goal and had 13 points with the man-advantage. That would’ve had him third on the Flyers in power-play scoring (behind Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny), which is enough of an indictment of how bad the Flyers were a man-up.
In the absence of finding a power-play point man through trade and free agency, Giroux might be the Flyers best outsideoption at addressing their league worst ranking.
The Cons
At 38, Giroux is in the twilight of his career. The Flyers have to be careful to guard against his addition being an exercise in nostalgia. There has to be a sense that he can help push their younger core of forwards in the right direction.
But at the same time, there’s reasons to be concerned that bringing a franchise icon back into the fold just as those young players are finding their own identity.
As colleague Bill Meltzer stated in his blog, there is a danger of “sucking the oxygen from the younger players on the locker room and on the bench.” Can Giroux adjust to a different role in a familiar environment? It’s human nature to wonder.
Couturier and Konecny remain from his previous tenure as captain. In his absence, they’ve become the key voices in the room. Beyond them, Noah Cates and others have also moved into leadership roles. It’s not that Giroux would try to usurp their voices, but can the room avoid deferring to him?
On ice, the flip side of having Giroux on the power-play is that he usually handles the puck the most. Can he adjust and allow others to be able to do the same, especially when Michkov needs to learn how to do that role in his third year of NHL play?
All are legitimate concerns.
At What Cost?
When it comes to a Giroux contract, at this point it should be no longer than a one year proposition. A multi-year commitment doesn’t make much sense for where he is and where the Flyers are at this point. When he first signed with Ottawa in 2022, it was a three year deal with a $6.5 million AAV. A year ago, he signed a one year deal at $2 million.
It would seem that he can garner a similar or slightly better deal here with the Flyers and others jockeying for his services.
What’s been interesting is that Senators general manager Steve Staios indicated that they wanted him back. But according to the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch, “something changed in the past couple of months.”
That something is of course Brady Tkachuk’s trade to Florida. If Giroux is looking to win a Stanley Cup in a final NHL season, is Philadelphia the right place if that’s his goal?
In the end, we should find out pretty soon what Giroux’s decision will be and whether an epilogue with the Flyers is in the cards.
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