NHL Trade Deadline Primer: Finding the right spot for Claude Giroux to chase the Stanley Cup

The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is Monday, March 21 at 3 p.m. ET. As we get closer to the deadline we will take a look at some individual players who could be on the move. We continue today with Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux has been one of the most productive players in the NHL throughout his 15 year career, but he is missing just one thing from his resume. The Stanley Cup.

With the Flyers near the bottom of the NHL standings, Giroux being a pending unrestricted free agent, and wanting to no doubt chase after a championship it seems to only be a matter of when and where, and not if, he gets traded before the NHL trade deadline. There are no shortage of options among the top Stanley Cup contenders.

Giroux has a ton of say in where he ends up given his no-trade clause, so you have to assume he is going to want to be in a situation where he feels there is a strong chance to contend for a championship.

He is still an outstanding top-line player and point producer, entering the week with 40 total points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 51 games. That is pretty much a 28-goal, 64-point pace over 82 games, which is exactly the pace he has scored at for three years now. He would be an outstanding addition to any Stanley Cup contender.

Giroux having so much control over where he could potentially go, as well as the fact he is a pending unrestricted free agent and would almost certainly be a pure rental for his next team, could hurt a little bit of the Flyers’ leverage in trade talks, but they should still easily be able to get a first-round pick, and probably more. It is not going to be the type of return that greatly accelerates the Flyers’ rebuild, but he is still by far the most