Well, that was not exactly what we were hoping for and it reminded us a little bit of the Wayne Simmonds trade saga. Lots of rumours, lots of hopeful trade proposals, lots of teams potentially interested, and then a somewhat disappointing return. Initial reactions ranged from sadness, anger, maniacal laughter, or a combination of all 3. The Philadelphia Flyers giving up more assets than they received is somewhat laughable but with the dust settling it’s as good of an offer as they were going to get.
If you haven’t heard yet, the Philadelphia Flyers traded Claude Giroux, German Rubstov, Connor Bunnaman, and a 5th round pick in 2024 to the Florida Panthers for Owen Tippett, a 1st round pick in 2024, and a 3rd round pick in 2023. With everything that we have heard for the last few months and especially in the last few weeks with the trade deadline approaching, this looks like a downtrodden and underwhelming offer. It is, but it also isn’t considering that general manager Chuck Fletcher was a little hamstrung with what he could negotiate, haggle for, and ask from the Panthers.
The Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Florida Panthers were the final four teams standing in the race for Claude Giroux. Many other teams knocked on the door, like the Washington Capitals, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, and Toronto Maple Leafs but their offers were either underwhelming or they weren’t a destination Giroux would’ve waived his no-movement clause for.
The Avalanche looked to be the front-runner for nearly a month as the Flyers were scouting their games heavily, they were engaged in several chats, and at one point it was reported that Giroux himself would prefer Colorado over any other team. As the weeks went by, the Florida Panthers entered the chat and took over, which pushed Colorado further away. The Avalanche were seemingly worried about a couple factors, mostly the price of acquisition, and instead made a few moves earlier in the week to acquire Josh Manson and Nico Sturm from the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild, respectively.
For the time being they looked to be out of the sweepstakes because they had traded a few assets that the Flyers were coveting and scouting in Drew Helleson, Tyson Jost, and a 2nd round pick. With the news of Gabriel Landeskog going down with an injury that would keep him sidelined until the playoffs, that re-opened the door for the Avalanche to strike a deal and load up.
Meanwhile the Panthers made a move themselves this week in acquiring Ben Chiarot from the Montreal Canadiens for a 1st round pick, 4th round pick, and a prospect. That first round pick seemed to be the kill shot in any Giroux deal involving the Panthers because the Flyers were coveting a first round pick, prospect, and a player in any trade. Before the trade was made official, the Panthers were without a first round pick in 2022 and 2023, while also being without a second round pick in 2022 and 2024. The Avalanche however had a first round pick in 2023 and 2024, but didn’t have a second round pick in 2022 and 2023. So in terms of draft picks, which is what the Flyers were more pre-occupied with, the Avalanche were more a viable trade destination.
From what is currently being reported the Bruins and the Avalanche had the best offers between the final 4 teams, but Giroux had already rejected deals from the Rangers and Bruins in and around his 1000th game. The Bruins jumped ship and instead made a blockbuster deal of their own in acquiring Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks. They traded a first round pick in 2022, a second round pick in 2023 and 2024, and defensemen Urho Vaakanainen and John Moore. The Ducks retained 50% of his salary and Lindholm signed an 8-year extension with the Bruins in short order; hence the lengthy haul.
Talking about hauls and blockbusters, we saw earlier this week that the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired Brandon Hagel and two fourth round picks in 2022 and 2024 from the Chicago Blackhawks for first round picks in 2023 and 2024, as well as Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk. After both these trades went down, the hopes and spirits of Flyers fans went up in anticipation for what Giroux would bring back.
The market was dwindling by the day with players being moved this week as well as players like Tomas Hertl and Joe Pavelski signing contract extensions from their respective teams. Giroux was always going to be one of the biggest names but after those subsequent moves, he became the biggest name. However, he held a no-movement clause and only wanted to go to Florida.
Chuck Fletcher was negotiating with the Panthers for a while and was trying to get them to match the Avalanche’s offer. The Panthers seemingly had the power and the ball in their court because they knew Giroux would only waive his no-movement clause for them. Reportedly, Danny Briere tried swaying Giroux’s mind to potentially accepting a deal to Colorado but respectfully so, they had to endear to Giroux’s final wishes.
Names like Grigori Denisenko, Mackie Samoskevich, Owen Tippett, Lucas Carlsson, and picks were being thrown around from several insiders and sources. Tippett was the “bigger” name prospect and the one player the Panthers were pushing for, while the Flyers were seemingly more enamoured with Denisenko or Samoskevich. The Panthers, not owning many picks that would look palatable for the Flyers, added their 2024th 1st rounder to sweeten the deal after the Flyers agreed to retain 50% of his salary.
Reported on the “Snow the Goalie” podcast, Anthony SanFilippo added a little more insight on why Giroux chose Florida and possibly why the deal was more underwhelming than we had hoped:
”Claude was really not willing to help the Flyers unless, from what I’m told, he could get a guarantee that they would bring him back next year. And Chuck was not willing to do that. And so when Chuck’s not willing to do that, Giroux was not as willing to help them out by giving them other destinations.”
As much as we want to chastise Chuck Fletcher for this deal and for everything else that he has done, which I have for quite some time, his hands were essentially tied. Giroux, once again had every right to do as he pleased with his NMC, but if Chuck gave him the assurance of a return, Florida would have most likely pulled the punches on adding assets for a true rental. Will Florida extend him? Probably not but you don’t want to make a deal knowing that the player you just acquired has no chance, no assurance, and no way of staying with you. Maybe Chuck and company still bring him back in the summer and just didn’t want the “agreed” upon assurance to be out in the public? Seems possible but at this point, especially for those who believe he’s coming back, this piece of news has dented that reunion a little.
So yes, the Flyers got a first round pick at the end of the day but it won’t be for another couple years. Owen Tippett seems to be a prospect with a lot of differing opinions, with some saying he’s not as good as he’s been perceived to be, while others chime in saying he hasn’t had the opportunity to truly shine. He’s only 23 years old, he was drafted 10th overall in 2017, and it is true that he never had the most fruitful opportunities in Florida. He reminds me of Morgan Frost a little bit, oozing with talent, never making much of a name for himself even with some NHL experience, but also never given a full shake. Perhaps on a Flyers team that is very depleted at the moment, he can make a name for himself with a 5-6 weeks left in the season.
Parting ways with German Rubstov and Connor Bunnaman isn’t the biggest deal in the world, it makes the trade look a little lopsided but they were both prospects who didn’t seem to fit into the future. Rubstov was drafted 22nd overall in 2016 by Ron Hextall, only appearing in 4 games with the Orange and Black, and not necessarily doing much in the AHL either as he appeared inn 93 games and only scored 29 points in parts of 3 seasons. Bunnaman had his chances with the Flyers, often being the primary call-up in lieu of an injury, but like most recent call-ups from the Phantoms, he never really did much with his opportunities either. At best he was always going to be a fourth line centre and the Flyers have those in spades.
Even though there might’ve been better offers out there from different teams, the Flyers had no choice but to accept whatever was given to them by the Florida Panthers. Giroux had all the rights in the world to do as he pleased with his no-movement clause and he chose to exercise the powers that came with it. Without it, the Flyers could’ve been in a true bidding war but all things considered, it’s not the worst haul imaginable.
