Longtime Flyers captain Claude Giroux signs with hometown Ottawa Senators
Giroux, 34, made a playoff run last season with the Florida Panthers but is on the move for the second time in four months. Previously, Giroux had spent his entire 15-year career in Philadelphia.
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For most of 15 years, Claude Giroux called Philadelphia home. On Wednesday, the 34-year-old winger really returned home, signing a three-year deal with the Ottawa Senators for an annual average value of $6.5 million, according to multiple reports. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first with the contract details.
Giroux, who was born in Hearst, Ontario, moved to Ottawa in his teens and for years has made Ottawa his offseason home. He was the longest-tenured captain in Flyers history after being given the “C” in January 2013. Last season, Giroux split time between the Flyers and the Florida Panthers, putting up 21 goals and 65 points combined.
In the midst of a second straight losing season and with Giroux in the final year of his contract, the Flyers traded their longtime captain, AHL players Connor Bunnaman and German Rubtsov, and a fifth-round pick to Florida on March 19 for winger Owen Tippett, a future first-round pick (2024 or 2025) and a 2023 third-round pick. Giroux cited a chance to win a Stanley Cup as motivation for him leaving.
With the Flyers, Giroux ranks second all-time to Bobby Clarke in games (1,000), assists (609), and points (900). The seven-time All-Star ranks sixth all-time with the Flyers in goals with 291 and was a key member of the team that reached the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.
In 18 regular-season games with the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers to finish the season, Giroux scored three goals and posted 23 points. He added three goals and eight points in 10 postseason games, but Florida was swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.
Giroux’s move is a bit of a surprise given his age, Ottawa’s current situation, and his desire to win a Cup. The Senators finished seventh out of eight teams in the Atlantic Division last season with a record of 33-42-7 and a whopping 27 points out of a playoff spot.
That said, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion has been aggressive this offseason, trading for both 40-goal winger Alex DeBrincat and All-Star goaltender Cam Talbot before signing Giroux.