The Philadelphia Flyers traded Claude Giroux, a fifth-round pick in 2024, along with prospects Connor Bunnaman and German Rubtsov to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, in exchange for Owen Tippett, a first-round pick in 2024, and a third-round choice in 2023. The Flyers are also retaining 50% of Giroux’s $8.275 million cap hit.
Giroux had plenty of suitors, and both the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins were aggressive in their pursuit of the Flyers’ captain. Ultimately, it was the Panthers who won out for Giroux’s services.
Now, let’s grade how the GMs did:
GM Bill Zito is obviously going all-in this season, having already acquired defenseman Ben Chiarot from Montreal for a first-round pick this week.
Now Zito has successfully reeled in Giroux, one of the big fish in this year’s trade pool. While the jury may be out still on the Chiarot move, there’s less doubt about how good Giroux can be in Florida.
Despite Philadelphia’s bottom-feeder status this season, the team’s 34-year-old (now former) captain has excelled. Giroux has been the Flyers’ leading scorer most of the season thanks to numbers — 18 goals and 42 points in 57 games — that reflect some of his best work in years.
Why not actually put that to good use? Clearly Philadelphia isn’t going to.
Florida’s offense is already elite, led by Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and a long list of contributors from there who make the Panthers potent — they are the NHL’s highest-scoring team, averaging 4.06 goals per game. Giroux should slide in and be an immediate contributor who can elevate the Panthers’ top-six group.
And so what if he’s just a rental? Philadelphia has won a single playoff round since 2011-12. No one will be hungrier to make hay in this upcoming postseason than Giroux. That’s something everyone else can buy into as well.
As for Tippett, he was a high draft choice of Florida’s and they’ve tried developing him along the way. But he’s been recently demoted to the AHL after not taking advantage of his NHL opportunities. The 23-year-old needs more seasoning, and the Flyers can give him that. Florida is in win-now mode, so passing out draft picks and prospects to try to capitalize on this season’s success is the most sensible move.
Plus, they now have Bunnaman (a fourth-round pick in 2016) and Rubtsov (a first-round pick in 2016) in the proverbial cupboards for later on.
The Flyers left it up to Giroux whether he’d be traded. The captain had a full no-movement clause, and could choose where he wanted to land. GM Chuck Fletcher had to make the most of what he was given.
Let’s start with Tippett. He could grow into a major part of Philadelphia’s future. Certainly, Tippett was a successful player in junior, posting back-to-back 75-point seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. His speed and skill haven’t translated yet to the NHL, and his defensive game is a long way off. But the Flyers could see potential for more out of Tippett in their system. At 6-foot-1 and 207 pounds, Tippett has some size and Philadelphia could encourage him to use it more. Maybe that brings something out of Tippett we haven’t seen at this level. Maybe not.
Then there’s the first-round choice in 2024. It’s a long way off, but teams have been wary of these upcoming drafts given the way COVID-19 impacted minor leagues and disrupted players’ seasons. The Flyers could have better information — and better choices — down the road than in the next year or two. Given where the organization is now, and the uphill battle it faces, the longer term on that pick may not be so bad.
On top of that though, Philadelphia had to hold onto half of Giroux’s cap hit. Giroux would only accept being traded to a contender, most of whom have a short supply of available cap space, so that part was inevitable.
All-in-all, Philadelphia grabbed a decent return for a departing player who basically held all the cards. What can you do?