Philadelphia Flyers GM Daniel Briere confirmed that his team has been talking to former captain Claude Giroux about a return to Philadelphia.
Giroux became a free agent after his contract with the Ottawa Senators finished, and he’s now being linked to a reunion with Philadelphia, the team where he spent the first 14.5 seasons of his NHL career.
The 38-year-old Hearst, Ontario, native has been connected to a return to the Flyers, and Briere said that it’s possible.
Daniel Briere Provides Latest Update on Claude Giroux
Speaking to reporters on July 1 after his team signed goalie Dan Vladar and forward Tyson Foerster to long-term contract extensions, Briere confirmed that the Flyers are in discussions with Giroux. However, he stopped short of saying anything was close to being done.
“We’ve had some discussions, I can’t say much more than that. We’re looking at everything. But at the moment, there’s nothing imminent,” Briere said (via Broad Street Hockey).
Though he is now 38 years of age, Giroux is still playing at a high level, having scored 14 goals and 49 points while playing in all 82 regular-season games for the Senators last year, plus four more games in the playoffs.
Claude Giroux is a Flyers Legend
Giroux was drafted by the Flyers in the first round with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He played exactly 1,000 regular-season games with the Flyers, scoring 291 goals and 900 points with them before he was traded to the Florida Panthers at the 2022 NHL trade deadline. Since then, he has spent the last four years with Ottawa.
While there is a chance that Giroux could return to Ottawa, it does feel like a return to Philadelphia is more likely at this point. The Flyers have always had great respect for Giroux, who was the team’s captain from 2013 until he was traded to the Panthers in 2022 while the Flyers were in the midst of a rebuild.
Now that Philadelphia is back to being a playoff team, it makes sense that the Flyers would want to bring him back, as the team could surely use his veteran leadership and goal-scoring ability next season.
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