The Flyers made another move, and have left the fan base upset. Panned by pundits, hated by the fan base, Fletcher’s moves are hard to defend. The team has gone from a diliberate, though be it slow, process of managing cap space and building a young core to what seems to be incoherent and directionless flailing.
In this case Giroux had leverage, which was given to him by Fletcher publicly. Much like President Biden’s “minor incursion” gaff with Ukraine, the Flyers gave up the illusion of a possibility of a bidding war for Giroux’s services. To be fair, even when Fletcher has leverage, he still gets fleeced.
To understand just how poorly the Flyers make it in the trade department, look at the Ristolainen deal.
The advanced metrics crowd will be sure to point out that from a corsi and XG perspective, Hagg and Ristolainen were almost the same player, with Hagg having better numbers in the 2020-2021 season. Things get even worse when the roster jiggering to open cap space is considered, where we gave up an asset, Gostisbehere, a second round pick and a seventh round pick in this years deep draft.
So another way at looking at this is that the Flyers gave up Hagg, Gostisbehere, a 1st, two 2nds, and a 7th for Ristolainen, who was just overpaid to extend his stay in Philadelphia
When compared to what was received for Giroux, it is truly a stark and concerning chasm of inequity.
But there is a bright side, or could be if played properly. The Panthers will not be able to re-sign Giroux next season if they win the cup. They have a little over 3.5 million in cap space and have six roster spots to fill, two by Bunnaman and Rubtsov in all likelyhood. Giroux is not going back to the Panthers, even if he wins a cup. In this case the Flyers have the inside track in re-signing him.
He has lived in the area for years, he has children and a family who have made a life here. He was married at the Ahsford Estate in New Jersey (East South-East of Trenton). Young children and five years into a marrige is not a great time for massive upheaval. This is going to be a three month road trip for Giroux.
Next. if there is anyone who is an in position to overpay, and willing to do it, it is Chuck Fletcher. And for once, I am all for it, but with a catch. Sign Giroux to a one year deal, and give him a limited trade clause. My guess is that the Flyers will stink again next year, and we might be able to give Giroux another chance at the cup in another city if it does not work out in Florida, while pocketing a few picks in the process. Maybe Fletcher will do better the second time.
If this ends up being truly a three month rental, with Giroux getting a chance to hoist a cup and subsequently returning to Philly, this trade looks much, much better.