According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, a potential reunion between Claude Giroux and the Philadelphia Flyers is officially dashed.
Friedman reported Monday night that Giroux, 38, “will return to Ottawa,” ending any potential farewell tour fairytale ending to the legendary forward’s career.
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“Word tonight the Senators remain very much in the Claude Giroux mix. Nothing done yet, though,” Friedman initially reported.
Then came the kicker.
“He will return to Ottawa, it is getting done,” Friedman posted to his X account a few minutes later.
The Flyers had interest in their former captain until the end, but it was ultimately up to Giroux to decide to run it back in Ottawa with the Senators for his 20th NHL season.
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Of course, a potential fit for Giroux became complicated when the Flyers went ahead and signed Leo Carlsson to a $90 million offer sheet that will cost them $18 million against the salary cap.
And in addition to that, the Flyers also signed a veteran right-shot center in free agency with journeyman Noel Acciari, adding even more depth to a suddenly crowded Flyers forward group, even without Giroux in the mix.
Assuming this is really it for Giroux, the veteran of 1,345 NHL regular season games and counting finished his Flyers career with 291 goals, 609 assists, and 900 points in 1,000 games donning the Orange and Black.
There’s always next year, of course, if Giroux hits free agency again, but with the amount of deliberation and fanfare it took just to get to this point, that’s far from a guarantee.
At least for now, Giroux returns to the Senators as an experienced, well-respected leader who the team will rely on to steady the ship after the rocky departure of former captain Brady Tkachuk.
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