The Philadelphia Flyers made a huge splash on Friday. In addition to their mammoth offer sheet to Anaheim center Leo Carlsson, they’ve agreed on a contract with former Flyers captain and star center/winger Claude Giroux. The team didn’t made the announcement official but it appears that the longtime Flyer is creating a second chapter with the club that drafted him back in 2006 with the twenty-second overall pick.
Meanwhile… Claude Giroux is signing with the Flyers
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) July 3, 2026
There’s no word as to the length of the contract or the salary Giroux will make. There were indications earlier that the Oilers were looking into signing Giroux which would’ve made a lot of sense for a team with a window that seems to be closing. However, it appears that the Flyers star will return for the 2026-27 season although nothing has been confirmed by the club.
Giroux was rumored to be weighing his options with Philadelphia. Flyers general manager Danny Briere was a bit coy as to conversations both he and Giroux’s camp were having, but there seemed to be indications that both sides were interested in getting a deal done. Giroux, who had 49 points last season playing a full 82-game schedule with Ottawa, will provide a heap of experience to the club who is teeming with youngsters such as Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, Alex Bump, and Denver Barkey among others. As well, Giroux might be able to help get the Flyers’ dreadful power play off the canvas. As reported yesterday, the forward has registered nearly 28 per cent of his entire regular season point total on the power play.
There are many pluses to this signing, including most likely providing some depth scoring to either the third or fourth lines. Giroux could be reunited with Sean Couturier on the fourth line, or might find his way on the third line and possibly a linemate to Matvei Michkov or some other youngster. Either way, it seems that Philadelphia is taking an extremely low-risk chance on adding a veteran presence and true leader to the locker room. In short, it’s quite an upgrade seeing a fourth line of possibly Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier versus Rodrigo Abols and one of Nic Deslauriers and/or Garnet Hathaway last season.
Giroux was traded to Florida around the 2022 trade deadline as part of a multi-piece package which saw Philadelphia acquire Owen Tippett. Although the Panthers didn’t win the Cup, it was a decent bet the team would’ve had a deep playoff run that year. In July 2022, Giroux signed a three-year $19.5 million contract with the Senators. Last summer he re-signed for a one-year, $2 million deal.
Clearly, this is a still a developing story. But G is heading back to Philly!
Update
Well, it looks like the initial report was a little premature. According to multiple reports, Claude Giroux has not yet made a decision on where he will play next season. The Flyers are still very much in the mix, but there are other factors to consider.
And, you know, offer sheeting Leo Carlsson at a contract that carries an $18-million AAV could throw a wrench in the whole thing, as it would be strange to add two more forwards to this already jampacked Flyers lineup.
We’ll see where this goes and if we need to wait until a decision is made on the Carlsson offer sheet to then see Giroux make a decision.
