Claude Giroux arrives in Florida: 'Time to go to work'

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The routine never changed. Claude Giroux and his wife Ryanne would find themselves talking daily in recent weeks about their options, if it made sense for the longtime captain of the Philadelphia Flyers to go to a new team, and which one would be the best fit.

The answer never changed, either.

"It was always coming down to Florida," Giroux said. "It’s something that just feels like it was meant to be."

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Philadelphia Flyers' Claude Giroux acknowledges the crowd after playing in his 1000th NHL hockey game, Thursday, March 17, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The Panthers couldn’t agree more.

After 1,000 games in Flyers orange and black, Giroux was breaking in a new cap bearing Florida red and blue on Monday. The biggest move of the NHL’s trade deadline came over the weekend when the Panthers acquired the veteran forward, and the seven-time All-Star was formally introduced Monday by his new club.

"He wants to win," Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. "I got a text from somebody who had played with him, saying ‘you got the ultimate competitor.' ... He checks all the boxes."

Giroux didn’t expect the season to have turned out this way. He had no designs on leaving Philadelphia, no reason to think that the Flyers would struggle this much and fall out of playoff contention so quickly.

But over the last few weeks, a move seemed inevitable. Further, it was also clear that no move would come before Giroux’s 1,000th game with the Flyers — which happened amid fanfare on Thursday. It was a celebration and a farewell, which was no secret by that point. Giroux was emotional taking his