PHILADELPHIA ( Associated Press) — Claude Giroux will try to win his first Stanley Cup in Florida.
A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that the Florida Panthers traded the Giroux to the Philadelphia Flyers after playing his 1,000th career game with the franchise.
The man spoke to the Associated Press on Saturday on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been announced.
The move cements Florida’s position as a Stanley Cup contender, giving Alexander Barkov an elite linemate and one of the best faceoff aces in the NHL. The Panthers traded a first-round pick and more for Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot in the first week.
Giroux was traded after playing his 1,000th game with the Flyers and was brought up with a game in his honor on Thursday. Drawn in the first round in 2006, Giroux made his Philadelphia debut on February 19, 2008 and played his entire career with the Flyers. He has 900 career points and is eighth on the Flyers’ career list with 291 goals. He helped the Flyers reach the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals and was awarded the All-Star MVP this season.
The Flyers also carried Owen Tippett and draft picks.
Giroux had to waive his no-movement clause that was part of his $66.2 million, eight-year contract.
He was joined by Hall of Famer and two-time Stanley Cup champion Bobby Clark as the only player to reach 1,000 games with a full Flyers. Giroux was made captain on January 15, 2013.
The Flyers have only 19 wins and are tied for last place in the Metropolitan Division.
This is the second important trade for Florida as the deadline nears, after the Panthers landed Chiarot.
The defenseman is expected to join Florida this coming week, when the Panthers play in Montreal. It will likely also be Giroux’s first match with his new club.
This is yet another clear sign that Florida is finally reversing its fortunes. The Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Finals in the franchise’s third season in 1996.
He hasn’t won a playoff series since, cycling through more than a dozen coaches, moving from one rebuild to another, often playing past an empty field and being surrounded for years by rumors that he would leave Florida.
But it’s as good for the Panthers as it is for the Panthers, who have the second-best record in the NHL entering Saturday, Hart Trophy contender in Jonathan Huberdeau, who is already a half-dozen 20-goal scorer this season And there is an elite class. Player in Barkov and closed for seven years.
Plus, the Panthers have survived a ton of adversity this season.
The team had seven unbeaten games in the season, with Joel Quéneville as coach, as part of the fallout of the Chicago Blackhawks scandal involving an abusive player – something that Quéneville had spent a decade on. Coached there a long time ago. And on Friday, the team watched as top defender Aaron Eckblad crawled on the bench in agony after suffering a lower leg injury in Anaheim. But by the end of the night, the team already had enough information to believe that Eckblad had dodged such a critical injury that would likely have ended his season and severely sabotaged Florida’s title hopes. Caste.
The Flyers have long been out of the race for the championship. But Giroux’s 1,000th game in Philadelphia was a rare occasion to celebrate. Clark presented a silver wand to Giroux to mark the occasion, and was given a Rolex watch by his teammates and a crystal by the NHL. Giroux has also played in 85 career playoff games for Philadelphia.
“The fans and the organization, my teammates have been so nice to me over the years and that’s one of the reasons it was so emotional after the game,” Giroux said.
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Associated Press Sports writers Stephen Whynow and Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
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