NHL Rumors: Claude Giroux free agent, John Tortorella behind Flyers bench
Anthony Scultore
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Today’s NHL Rumors focuses on a pending UFA from a just eliminated team.
The Florida Panthers season is over and all the good feels that Claude Giroux had when he was traded from the Philadelphia Flyers are over.
Which brings us to what’s next for Giroux as he’s heading for free agent frenzy on July 13.
Giroux, 34, registered 65 points in 75 games during the regular season and added another 8 points in 10 postseason contests. He is wrapping up an 8-year deal with an AAV of $8.275M.
NHL Rumors: Claude Giroux
One thing seems fairly certain and that’s Claude Giroux returning to the Panthers seems unlikely. Florida has a lot of work to do with the cap as they only have around $3.9M in space heading into this summer per CapFriendly.
There will also be a limited amount of contenders that could take on Giroux if he’s looking for a similar AAV. That’s why the chatter regarding the Ottawa Senators is intriguing.
“No guarantee it happens, but I do believe Claude Giroux is doing his research on Ottawa,” Elliotte Friedman wrote in a 32 Thoughts Blog.
Giroux is a native of Hearst, Ontario which is about a 10 hour drive from where the Senators play. Of course, that’s really less than a 90 minute flight from his old hometown.
NHL Rumors: John Tortorella Flyers next coach?
The 63 year-old Torts is 12th all-time on the NHL’s win list. In 1383 games he has a record of 673-541-37-132. His postseason record is 56-64 winning a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Philadelphia Flyers are searching for a new coach after letting Mike Yeo go. Reports indicate they will be meeting with Barry Trotz this week, but Tortorella rumors are now surfacing.
Tortorella is a fiery coach known to get into some heated moments with the media and his players. But he is also widely considered one of the fairest coaches in the business.
“Personally, I love Torts,” Zach Werenski said. “Me and Torts went through it. My first year, came in and it was smooth sailing. Second and third year I was struggling defensively. He was hard me – pushed me to be better. Going through that process with him – seeing what he means to the room, to the city, to the organization – I’m honored to have played for him.”
