Last Friday had huge news on two fronts. The Flyers, and everyone concerned with the team, are still a few days away from knowing the outcome of one. The other seemed to happen last night, and not in a way many people envisioned it to go. After a report Friday indicated that former Flyers center (and current Sens forward) Claude Giroux decided to start another chapter in Philadelphia, those dreams were dashed Monday night. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted that Giroux and Ottawa were close to agreeing to a short extension.
He will return to Ottawa, it is getting done https://t.co/LotkjuqKD6
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 7, 2026
There was no indication as to what Giroux will be paid, or how long the deal is for the 38-year-old veteran. What it means for the Flyers and the player is that the former team captain and leader will most likely end his career with 1000 regular season games played in Philadelphia. And any dreams of Giroux returning to help youngsters like Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone, and others now gone.
Some might point to the current situation with Leo Carlsson and the five-year, $90 million offer sheet as the reason why things didn’t work out. With the Flyers still waiting to know either way what’s happening with Carlsson, a lot of their other business is currently in limbo. Forward Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale have both filed for arbitration, most likely as a means to prevent any notions of an offer sheet from other teams. So with both of those players not inked, the Flyers aren’t quite sure where their respective cap hits will be. Had the Carlsson situation been clarified, Philadelphia general manager Danny Briere and Giroux’s camp probably would’ve been able to hash out a deal. Having so many moving parts right now makes it difficult to get something done.
With youngsters and his family settled in Ottawa, maybe Giroux wasn’t keen on relocating to Philadelphia, even if it was for one year. Perhaps we’ll get the real reason at some point. As it stands now, Giroux’s not coming. And that might be for the best for a few reasons. We’ll look at a few of them.
Giroux isn’t a spring chicken
Giroux enters training camp this year 38 years old, with his best years behind him by a few years. He can still deliver on the faceoff dot (winning over 63 per cent of draws last season), and provide some offensive help on the power play as a third-line winger. With the glut of wingers Philadelphia currently has, moving somebody out simply to accommodate Giroux might have seemed like a stretch. Giroux is not Leo Carlsson, so naturally the Flyers aren’t bending over backward to make it work for Giroux. Nor should they. They have plenty of irons in the fire to deal with for the time being.
Even the biggest optimist had to realize Giroux isn’t the 102-point Giroux of yesteryear. He hasn’t been close to 80 points in the last three seasons after registering 79 in 2022-23. Would he still contribute? Well, you’d hope so, possibly eking out 50 points in a full 84-game schedule this year. However, the other side of the coin could be a player that is declining, and might be a detriment to the club in some respects than a help. His shot attempts the last two seasons are down roughly 100 per season versus the previous two seasons, despite the analytic numbers generally being above 50 per cent across the board in 2025-26. He’s also in the 50th percentile according to NHL Edge regarding speed (21.84 miles per hour). Not a snail’s pace, but not a speed demon by any stretch. It’s not that he couldn’t have another fine season. It’s that he could also fall off dramatically. And that’s something the Flyers didn’t need to deal with this year.
Had Giroux played this season in Philadelphia and started horribly, it might have been a nightmare right off the bat. Or a headache neither the player nor the team needed. Do you bench a future Hall of Famer and one of the franchise icons if he can’t quite cut it anymore? And is there any backlash from that? It’s not that the Flyer coaches have had problems benching players. Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov can tell you all about that. It’s just that the optics with such a benching such a cornerstone of the franchise is something the Flyers wouldn’t need any any point. It was nice how it ended between the player and the team. Why risk tarnishing it?
Breaking up with the past
Claude Giroux left in March 2022 with a fond farewell at game’s end, saluting the fans who gave him a standing ovation for his years and dedication to the Flyers. He was shipped off to Florida, and received a warm ovation in his return to the then Wells Fargo Center when he returned as an Ottawa Senator. The chapter was closed. It was over. While seven players still remain from the club (Travis Konecny, Rasmus Ristolainen, Noah Cates, Nick Seeler, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Couturier), there has been a drastic overhaul in terms of the general manager and the outlook. The faces of the future seem to be Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, and possibly a current Anaheim Duck earning $90 million the next five years. In short, this is not Claude Giroux’s team anymore. And it wouldn’t be had he returned.
Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, Tyson Foerster and so many others are injecting youth into Philadelphia’s fortunes. This isn’t the team that featured Justin Braun, Keith Yandle, Kevin Hayes, Nate Thompson, Cam Atkinson, and James van Riemsdyk, players all over 30 and all in the downside of their careers when Giroux was traded to the Panthers four seasons ago. The Flyers do have some thirtysomethings, but it’s the young twentysomethings that are the future of the club. Not Giroux. It’s probably for the best that Giroux’s return warmed the heart, but didn’t come to fruition.
Constant comparison not fair to anyone
Regardless of the fact everyone would know they were getting a 38-year-old veteran, there would still be some segment of the fan base or media circles bitching that he’s slower, older, and not the star that he once was. It’s not a fair comparison, as nearly any player at age 38 (maybe outside of Sidney Crosby) doesn’t look remotely the same as they did in the yearly to late twenties in their NHL careers. Whether Giroux would feel that internal pressure to try and take team forward and lead by example instead of being a piece of the bottom six or fourth line is anyone’s guess. He’d be adjusting to a system that is defensive-oriented, not quite John Tortorella’s idea of blocking 83 shots a game, but one that ensures things are tidy in the defensive zone before generating offense up the ice.
He would’ve received a hero’s welcome in his first home game, and it might have started a sweet swan song that ended with a two-round or three-round drive into the playoffs. But any time he didn’t deliver, or missed a golden scoring chance, he would have that comparison to his Philadelphia heyday. Back then goals were more abundant, and the power play was clicking on a lot more cylinders. Now, not so much. It wouldn’t seem fair to Giroux or the team to have that shadow of the past looming in the present. Both sides turned over a new page. And while the player should have his #28 retired by the Flyers when the time comes, the way it ended four seasons ago seems fine. No need to revisit it.
