Grading the 2009 Flyers: Claude Giroux

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 25, 2009 6:54 PM EDT in Philadelphia Flyers Season Grades

Grade: A

08/09 Salary: $0.850 mil

09/10 Salary: $0.850 mil

09/10 Cap Hit: $0.822 mil

Linemates: 18.2% Darroll Powe and Scottie Upshall, 14.2% Arron Asham and Danny Briere

Depth Chart Ranking: #3 Center

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	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	TOI/G	PP/G	FO%	BkS	GvA	TkA
08/09 Regular Season	42	9	18	27	10	14	15:09	1:23	47.2	18	22	33
08/09 Playoffs	6	2	3	5	2	6	15:56	1:08	44.3	1	1	1

Could the Flyers have hoped for anything better out of Claude Giroux last year? I doubt it. The 21 year-old was about as impressive a rookie the Flyers have had since both Brian Boucher (20 wins, 1.91 gaa) and Simon Gagne (20 goals, 48 points) entered the league in 1999-2000. Without playing a full season, Giroux still put up impressive numbers. His turnover ratio was a +11, tied with Mike Knuble for the team lead. His special teams +/- was a +7, sixth best on the team. He led the team in both GAON/60 (1.98) and in CORSI rating with 2.5. He was also fourth in PTS/60 at 2.34, second in ASST1/60 at .93, a. Yes, he only played 42 games, but that is quite an impressive rookie season. As Puck Prospectus states, Giroux had a +5.5 GVT last year and over a full season "would have been worth +11 GVT. Look for an impact of at least that level in 2009-10."

As much as I like to look at stats, there is so much more to Giroux than just numbers. Anyone who watched him this year knows he could be special. Even our friends over at Pensburgh were impressed. He was the Flyers best player in the playoffs (leading the team in points) and had some of the most impressive plays throughout the season, all while playing with constantly rotating linemates.

The two biggest things for Giroux this year appear to be weathering expectations and finding a role. Sophomores in all sports are notorious for taking a step back, but Flyers fans need only look to Brian Boucher, Joni Pitkanen, and Andy Delmore to know that's true. Giroux doesn't appear headed there, but something the team needs to avoid is burdening him with lofty expectations and/or allowing him to burden himself. John Stevens already disclosed plans to use Giroux as the third line center, which would go a long way to avoiding any excess pressure. But with that comes the second point: finding a defined role for Giroux with some stability on his wing. As the 3rd line center, Giroux presumably will not be playing with Danny Briere or Simon Gagne. Last year, he succeeded on the 3rd line, but he had Briere or Upshall with him over one-third of the time. Powe appears to be penciled in as the 4th line center, but he could easily play with Giroux. The question becomes: Does Stevens put a finisher on the wing to take Giroux's passes, or does he hope someone (including Giroux) steps up and scores 20-30 goals? We can - and have - debated line combinations, but more than any other, Giroux's line is becoming the most intriguing.

Highlights after the jump.

Nice play by Powe there...

Nice play by Asham, Danny, and of course Claude

And of course...

Poll

If John Stevens holds to his claim and Giroux starts as the third line center, who would you like to see on either side of him?

Dan Carcillo and Arron Asham

23 votes

Dan Carcillo and Ian laperriere

50 votes

Dan Carcillo and Darroll Powe

41 votes

Dan Carcillo and Andreas Nodl

16 votes

Arron Asham and Ian Laperriere

27 votes

Arron Asham and Darroll Powe

48 votes

Arron Asham and Andreas Nodl

13 votes

Ian Laperriere and Darroll Powe

67 votes

Ian Laperriere and Andreas Nodl

17 votes

Darroll Powe and Andreas Nodl

31 votes

Other

59 votes

392 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

You don’t want to waste Giroux by putting him with goons. How many times have we seen Giroux make some ridiculous pass only to find it go to Asham? Yeah, Asham shows flashes of brilliance at times, but he’s not the right person to put on Giroux’s line. Lappy-Giroux-Sykora/Maroon/? might be better.

by Ben Feldman on Aug 25, 2009 7:26 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t get a good feeling about any combinations including Carcillo. Above all other traits, I think Giroux needs to play with guys who are going to pay attention and not get distracted; he makes decisions and passes so quickly that only alert players can keep up with him. I haven’t seen Carcillo display enough of those qualities, so unless they work fabulously together in training camp, I just don’t see those passes being handled well.

by DragonGirl0583 on Aug 25, 2009 8:19 PM EDT reply actions

You’re gonna be surprised by Carcillo this year. In a good way.

by SJPhillyVT on Aug 26, 2009 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I think so too.

I hope so, anyway. I don’t see why he can’t produce as much offense as Upshall did.

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Aug 26, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t really like any of the choices, but I picked Lappy-Giroux-Powe, since it gives a smidge of offense and some grit. Laperriere can occasionally dump a puck in the net (yes, he only had 7 goals last season, but he also had an 11.5% goal/shot). It’s not much different from Asham (8 goals, 10.8%), but I think Laperriere brings more overall than Asham. Carcillo wouldn’t bring any offense. I’d rather have Powe than Nodl, since I think Powe’s a little more polished. I think Nodl has more upside, and that next year I’d want Nodl instead of Powe, but not this year. I also don’t think either Nodl or Powe are really chippy enough to justify having both of them on a line with Giroux. Given Giroux’s lack of size, there needs to be somebody out there who can discourage headhunting.

"When you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe"

by The Dark on Aug 26, 2009 7:22 AM EDT reply actions

Giroux and Briere

They seemed to click very well last year, why break that up?

by philiafan14364 on Aug 26, 2009 11:37 AM EDT reply actions

They shouldn't.

I could see the two of them with a really good defensive forward like Laperriere, or even Powe if he progresses. The three of them looked good at times last season.

Do you see what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?

by mikefive on Aug 26, 2009 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess it was presumptuous to assume they would be

but I have a hard time seeing Briere as a third line winger, especially since we have no other legit RW to play alongside Gagne/Richards and Carter/Hartnell. When I heard Stevens say Giroux is a center, I simply assumed Briere would play with Richards as he did last year. If that’s the case, someone has to play with Carter and Hartnell – possibly Nodl, since he played with Carter a lot last year. Either way, the options were meant to include bottom 6 forwards on the team, and there is the flaw. I could easily see Carcillo playing with Richards, as he did for a little while at the end of the year – with poor results, save his only goal in the playoffs – but as I said, I went with bottom six forwards.

I think Mike has the optimal line: Lappy/Powe-Giroux-Briere. Lappy balances Briere’s defensive ineptness while Powe adds a little extra spark. This is why I think the Giroux line is the most intriguing this year, since he could end up playing with none of those three.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 26, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

i think lappy will be on the first line because he can spell richy on FOs, he’s tough and a nice 2-way complement. i hear he can score, so filling in for knuble in front of the net seems a perfect fit… danny should play on the second line, hopefully carter can improve his defensive skills making this line very dangerous with gritty harts… playoffs last year proved giroux can play with just about anyone on the team. he’ll make whomever is on his line a threat – third line has potential, but i disagree about nodl playing here or the second line… asham and giroux connected on some nice plays last year… i think this is a good challenge for stevens to play around with his lines and create mismatches… the penguins tried almost every combination with sid and malkin. i’d like to see more variety in our line combos based on different game situations…

by fitzy first on Aug 26, 2009 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions

About Nodl

I was not impressed with him at all last year. I do not think he’s a second-line forward – not yet anyway – and am not advocating that he be on the second line. I was simply stating that when he did play last year, it was with Carter and Lupul.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 26, 2009 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

i dont quite recall that… noticed him on the fourth line mostly

by fitzy first on Aug 26, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry

It was Carter and Hartnell, not Lupul. Carter and Upshall was the next most common occurence.

http://www.dobberhockey.com/frozenpool_linecombo.php

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 26, 2009 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions

youre talking about the time lupul was bumped up to the first line and nodl filled in on the second… i think that happened a few times…

by fitzy first on Aug 26, 2009 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn’t do the percentages, but he played with Hartnell and Carter three times as frequently as he played with Carcillo and Powe. He played with Carter and Upshall twice as often as Cote and Powe… and on down the line.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 26, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions

where do you get that info by chance?

by fitzy first on Aug 26, 2009 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions

The link I posted above. You click the box next to forward, and start typing a player’s last name. I broke it down to even strength, mainly because Nodl didn’t get much special teams time.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 26, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions

cool

by fitzy first on Aug 26, 2009 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Giroux linemates

I would like to see Jonathan Kalinski one the line with Carcillo. Kalinski has good speed and can handle the puck better than the others. Carcillo will hopefully show some of his promise besides being tough, controlled toughness. plus a desire to head for the net hard.

by philly willi on Aug 26, 2009 10:23 PM EDT reply actions

Bottom 6

I am not sure I even like any of the combinations for the last 2 lines.The Flyers lost 2 goal scoreers over the summer. They now have to move players to the top lines. What will they have for the bottom 6? Is Marroon ready? How about Reemer, can he take the next step? As it is, they (the Flyers ) will have 2 very good scoring lines with nothing to back them up. I am not a fan of Carsillo, Asham, or La Pierre. Cote is def a 4th line guy ( i personally would like to see him go ) I was not impressed with Nodl either, He always seemed out of place when he played.I say package 1 or 2 players for another skill player for 3rd line scoring.

by craiger6 on Aug 28, 2009 7:12 AM EDT reply actions