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Flyers trade Claude Giroux to Panthers

The career-long Philadelphia Flyer will now head to the Florida Panthers, an Eastern Conference club with a chance to win a Stanley Cup.

PHILADELPHIA — Editor's note: The above video is from March 14.

Oh Captain, my captain!

Farewell.

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded captain Claude Giroux and forwards Connor Bunnaman, German Rubstov and a 2024 fifth round pick to the Florida Panthers for a package including F Owen Tippett

The Flyers also acquired a conditional 2024 first round pick and the Panthers' 2023 third round pick. Philadelphia will also retain 50% of Giroux's salary cap hit.

Giroux, 34, a career-long Flyer, will now provide the Panthers with another top scoring option at either center or wing.

The trade ends a 15-year run where Giroux became one of the most beloved Flyers of all-time and among the franchise leaders in many categories.

Giroux is the second Flyers player, joining Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke, to eclipse 1,000 games with the Flyers. 

“It’s something I’m proud of," Giroux told the AP. "I’m very happy I got the chance to do this. After that, it’s going to be, change the mindset a little bit and see how things are going to go.”

Drafted in the first round in 2006, Giroux made his Philadelphia debut on Feb. 19, 2008, and has played his entire career with the Flyers. He has 900 career points and is ranked eighth all-time in club history with 291 goals. 

He helped the Flyers reach the 2010 Stanley Cup finals and was awarded the All-Star MVP this season.

While Giroux's tenure with the team began a run of success, the Flyers have had mixed results in the past half decade or so.

After appearing to turn a corner with a young core during the NHL's playoff bubble in 2020, the Flyers have stumbled all the way to becoming one of the worst teams in the league.

Despite the team's performance, Giroux has remained a constant and has done pretty much everything except lead the Flyers to a championship.

“That is completely unfair to place it on G that we don’t have a Stanley Cup,” Flyers coach Mike Yeo said Wednesday. “Hopefully that moment does come for him, where he is a Stanley Cup winner.”

With the trade, Giroux finally gets to chase the Cup that has eluded him, while the Flyers get the draft picks and prospects needed to restock a failing roster. The Flyers are years away from contention and Giroux doesn’t have the time left in his career to stick around for a rebuild.

Currently, the Panthers sit atop the Eastern Conference in points, with 74.

While he's remembered for his feats in skates, some of Giroux’s best moments came off the ice, like the time former coach Craig Berube challenged Giroux to an arm-wrestling contest at a bar in Nashville. 

Let former Flyer Scott Hartnell explain:

“I was the referee with hands on them ready to arm wrestle,” Hartnell said. “G kinda let Chief have the first win. Then just like the movie ‘Over the Top’ with Sylvester Stallone, just went (made a whipping noise) and hammered him down and got in his face all over him. We were just going bananas. I think we made Chief leave the bar because he was embarrassed he lost.”

Some of Giroux’s other finest moments include:

— Best in the World. Giroux flattened Sidney Crosby only five seconds into the game, buried his sixth goal of the series past Marc-Andre Fleury 27 seconds later and led the Flyers to a clinching Game 6 playoff victory over Pittsburgh in 2012. He gestured toward the crowd and slammed the glass in celebration after his goal, firing up 20,000 fans and delivering on the hype of former coach Peter Laviolette’s claim that Giroux was the “best player in the world.”

— Game 3. With the Flyers down 0-2 to Chicago in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, Giroux delivered in the clutch in a must-win game. He scored 5:59 into overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 victory. “He was smiling all day, came to the arena and had a great game. Talented kid,” Laviolette said.

— Hat Trick. Giroux’s first career hat trick in the regular season helped the Flyers clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the 2012 season. He finished with 34 goals and 102 points, the only time he topped 100 points in his career.

— Cold Outside. The Flyers packed nearly 70,000 fans inside the NFL stadium across the street for a 2019 outdoor game against the Penguins. Down two goals in the third period, the Flyers scored twice in the waning minutes and Giroux had the winner 1:59 into overtime, sending what was left of the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

“I think maybe it took me a little while to understand what it is to play in Philly,” Giroux said. “I got to figure it out and understand how they are. They’re absolutely nuts. Their passion, how they want to win. You have to respect the way they think, the way they act.”

Adding Giroux gives the Panthers another top offensive talent to help boost their chances of a run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The NHL trade deadline is 3 p.m. EST Monday.

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