Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Under pressure: Claude Giroux

Philadelphia Flyers v Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 11: Claude Giroux #28 of the Philadelphia Flyers skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre on November 11, 2016 in Toronto, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Flyers 6-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Getty Images

This post is part of Flyers Day at PHT…

In 2014, Claude Giroux was a finalist for the Hart Trophy.

In the three years since, Giroux has experienced a rather significant drop in overall production, hitting a low point last season and leading general manager Ron Hextall when it was all over to give a defiant vote of confidence for the Flyers captain and highest paid player.

Giroux scored only 14 goals and 58 points while playing the full 82-game schedule. If there is a positive, it’s that on the power play, he was still highly productive with 31 points, which led a Flyers team that was 14th in the league with the advantage. Those 31 power play points for Giroux accounted about 53 per cent of his offensive output.

The NHL recently released its list of top-20 centers heading into next season, and Giroux didn’t make the list.

“Frustrating,” is how Giroux described last season to reporters after the Flyers failed to make the playoffs. “When you try to do something and you can’t do it -- your mind wants to do something but your body doesn’t do it, it’s frustrating.

“You’ve got to keep working on your game, get stronger, faster. I mean, I’m very excited to ... have a whole summer to work out and really do what I want to do.”

That last part is key.

Giroux, who will turn 30 years old in January, struggled through a hip problem during the 2015-16 season and had surgery in the spring. The timeline for recovery from the operation was about 10 to 12 weeks, which would cut into his summer training. There was perhaps some added rush to get back considering he played for Team Canada at the World Cup ahead of the NHL regular season.

One of his notable statements prior to joining the Canadian contingent was, “I don’t feel like I have a 60-year-old hip anymore.” That should provide an indication as to how much of a struggle it was for him prior to surgery. But this year, there is no World Cup. There was no off-season surgery with a lengthy recovery. Perhaps the bounce back season Flyers fans, management and coaching staff are all hoping for will take shape for Giroux after a full summer of training.

The Flyers are expected to have some young players in their lineup, and they no longer have Brayden Schenn, who was traded to St. Louis at the draft. Nolan Patrick could have an impact on the lineup as the second overall pick, but he too is coming off an injury-plagued season in the Western Hockey League.

Adding to the pressure on Giroux is that he’s under contract for five more years -- with a no-movement clause, according to CapFriendly -- at a cap hit of $8.275 million.