Former Flyers captain Claude Giroux re-signs with Ottawa Senators, dashing reunion hopes
The rumblings about Giroux coming back to Philly were premature.
After he had been around the world — well, Florida and Ottawa — it sounded like there was only one place left Claude Giroux wanted to go: back to Philadelphia.
But after 1,571 days away and several false reports, the former Flyers captain is not returning to the City of Brotherly Love. He has signed a one-year contract to stay with the Ottawa Senators. According to the team, the deal carries a base salary of $2 million with bonuses that could reach a maximum value of $5 million.
“I chose to come back because I want to be here. I’m excited to be an Ottawa Senator,” Giroux said in a news release. “Being around those guys for four years, we got really close. This team feels like a family. I just care for those players.”
Giroux has been with Ottawa for four seasons after signing with the team in July 2022. Following the trade of captain Brady Tkachuk, it makes sense that the Senators kept the 38-year-old veteran to stabilize things.
The announcement comes days after some misinformation online. Were the Flyers out on Giroux, like some reports said on Friday? That was inaccurate, a team source confirmed to The Inquirer.
Was he signing with the Flyers, as other reports said on Friday? Also no, clearly.
As reported on X (formerly Twitter) by The Inquirer, the word of Giroux’s imminent return was premature, as the Flyers’ attention was on the announcement that they had tendered an offer sheet to Leo Carlsson on Friday afternoon. That seemingly put everything on hold.
In the end, Giroux opted to stay in Ontario.
“Claude took his time to evaluate his options, and his decision to re-sign with us shows his belief and commitment to our group,” Ottawa general manager Steve Staios said. “He is the consummate professional and brings veteran experience to our core on and off the ice.”
Although it would have been a welcome return for many fans, without a reunion, Giroux stays on the nice, round numbers of 900 points in 1,000 games with Philly. He is one of only two players, the other being Bobby Clarke, to play at least 1,000 games for the Orange and Black. Current Flyers captain Sean Couturier is 48 games away from joining them.
This past season, Giroux had 14 goals and 49 points, including a power-play goal and 13 power-play points in 82 games. The expectation was that he could help a power play that, including his last season in Philly (2021-22), has been the NHL’s worst (14.1%). Across his first 14 seasons with the Flyers, the power play was ranked the fifth-best (20.3%).
In March 2022, Giroux was traded to the Florida Panthers in a multiplayer swap. The Flyers acquired forward Owen Tippett, a 2023 third-round pick that became Denver Barkey, and a conditional first-round pick that was swapped with the Edmonton Oilers and then packaged to move up to get Jack Nesbitt in 2025.
No one locally wanted to see Giroux depart. But it was time.
One of the worst teams in the NHL, and a team that had not made the playoffs since the COVID-19 bubble of 2020, the Flyers had to change course.
Giroux went to chase a Stanley Cup with the Panthers, which had 41 more points in the standings thanks to 23 more wins. They won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top club but were ultimately swept in the second round by the two-time defending Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Florida would make the next three Finals, winning the last two, but Giroux was already back home in Ontario.
The deal worked out for both sides. Giroux got a chance to win, and the Flyers picked up some valuable pieces. Nesbitt, a center, is heading to University of Michigan in the fall; Barkey has become a spark plug with an unstoppable motor; and Tippett is the speedy winger the Flyers need to keep defenses on their heels.
A little more than a year after the trade, Chuck Fletcher was out as general manager, and Danny Brière was in. Many thought a Giroux deal would get done this summer since Giroux and Brière were teammates for several seasons, and Giroux had lived with Brière and his three sons during the 2010-11 season.
The remaining players from Giroux’s tenure are forwards Couturier, Travis Konecny and Noah Cates, and defensemen Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Seeler, and Cam York.