Claude Giroux is set to get quite the poetic ending as captain of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Thursday will mark Giroux’s 1,000th career NHL game, with all one thousand coming with the Flyers. Then, almost certainly, Giroux will be traded ahead of Monday’s NHL trade deadline to a Stanley Cup contender.
Giroux’s name has been in trade rumors for some time now, an unfortunate and unnecessary consequence of the Flyers’ inability to build a contending team over the last decade. At age 34, Giroux is in the last year of his eight-year, $66.2 million deal that’s seen him through as the longest-tenured captain in team history. Due to his upcoming expiring contract and excellent hockey acumen, Giroux enters the trade deadline as the biggest name on the market for a contending team.
Thursday night’s game against the Nashville Predators is set to be an emotional one for Giroux, the team, and Flyers fans in what will be one part celebration, one part farewell tour. Even before the main event, emotions were running high over the last week during team practices and on the Flyers’ social media as everyone in Philadelphia started to come to grips with the sad reality.