Giroux eager to 'blend in' with Panthers after trade from Flyers

Claude Giroux said any time he looked at his future, he saw the Florida Panthers.

"I did a lot of homework for myself and kept it to myself," Giroux said Monday. "It was a decision me and my wife were talking about pretty much every night. At the end of the night it was always coming down to Florida. It's just something that just felt like it was meant to be."
The forward had spent his 15-season NHL career with the Philadelphia Flyers. But with his eight-year contract set to expire after the season and the Flyers seventh in the Metropolitan Division, he had accepted the fact that he was going to be traded ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline on Monday.
He had a no-move clause in his contract, and had given the situation deep thought, including asking friends around the NHL what they thought of the Panthers.
The answers led him to allow the Flyers to trade him to the Panthers on Sunday for forward Owen Tippett, a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
"Florida was at the top of my list," Giroux said. "If there was a team I wanted to go to, it was here. I had a chance to play against them three times this year, watched a few of their games. Asked around about the guys on the team, the coach, management, and I didn't hear a lot of bad things. I'm just happy the deal got done."
Giroux could make his Panthers debut at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. That gives coach Andrew Brunette two days of practice to figure out where he best fits on a deep Panthers team.
"He's a unique player because he could play a first line role with [Aleksander Barkov] where he can complement 'Sasha,'" Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. "He's the type of player who allows Barkov to be Barkov. He doesn't have to help Claude Giroux, maybe Giroux helps Barkov. He's a top face-off guy in the League and he's a right-handed shot and he kills penalties and he's a power-play guy. We're checking boxes off as we go.
"Where other teams may be looking to acquire a few players, we're getting it all in one."
After being the centerpiece in Philadelphia, Giroux said he is willing to fill whatever role is asked of him in Florida.
"My job is to come in here, blend in, adapt to the team and help the team win more games ... do everything I can in whatever role the coach gives me," he said. "Just embrace it and go to work.
"We don't have that many games right now to figure out before the playoffs, but you've got to find the chemistry with whoever you're playing with. Whatever line he puts you on, you've got to figure it out and do the best you can."
Zito said he expects Giroux to make a positive impact on the Panthers (42-14-6), who have a six-point lead on the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division.
"We love the fact that he wants to win," Zito said. "I got a text from somebody who had played with him saying you've got the ultimate competitor. As an agent I had some clients on that Flyers team that went to the [2010 Stanley Cup] Final who spoke volumes on his competitiveness and character. The leadership, you've got the versatility at a super-high level. You're checking off all the boxes.
"I think he's going to fit in real well. Across the board he's a guy that checks so many different boxes. It's exciting."
Giroux's time with the Panthers could just run through however deep their run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is. Or it could be longer.
"We'll worry about that stuff later on," Zito said. "We haven't closed the door on anything. We're open-minded to whatever we can to have the best team."
Giroux said he is just trying to focus on the immediate future.
His emotions have run the gamut the past few days. He was celebrated by the Flyers for playing his 1,000th NHL game Thursday but knew in the back of his mind it would be his final one with the only NHL team he had been a part of.
But after celebrating with family and friends that had come to watch his milestone moment, it was off to Florida and all new experiences.
"I had the chance to talk to coach [Brunette] today and that got me even more excited," he said. "Met a few guys. It's a lot of emotions. It's kind of weird. But I couldn't be more excited. ... I met a few guys this morning. You can just feel how much fun they have. I'm very pumped to get this going."