Giroux set to help lead Senators after departure of former captain Tkachuk

Claude Giroux knows what it's like to be a young captain in the NHL. 

The forward, who re-signed with the Ottawa Senators on July 7, agreeing to a one-year, $2 million deal, had turned 25 three days before he was named captain of the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 15, 2013, succeeding Chris Pronger. So he understands what it might be like should the Senators go with a player like Tim Stutzle, who's 24, or Jake Sanderson, also 24, to replace Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa's former captain who was traded to the Florida Panthers on June 21.

"We have a good amount of guys that could fill that role and be a leader on and off the ice," Girioux said Tuesday. "Sometimes you put a 'C' on somebody and they're trying to do too much, they're trying to do too much on the ice or off the ice and they're just not themselves anymore. So it can be tricky. 

"When I think I was (25) I was named captain and I was trying to do way too much instead of just going out there and playing the game. So I learned that the hard way, but some guys are just born to be a leader and they don't change anything, they're just themselves. It can be tricky, but as I've said and I keep saying it, we're all in this together. It's not just one guy gets the 'C' and then he's a leader. It just doesn't work like that."

Giroux said, in his case, he spent too much time focusing on being a leader and, as he put it, "forgot to play hockey." But he had the fortune of having then-general manager Paul Holmgren there to tell him that he was named captain because of the way he played, not because of what he said. He called it a turning point in his career.

It's a message he can pass along to whoever is named captain in Ottawa.

"You have a lot of guys that can bring a little bit of everything," he said. "Leadership is not about one person. It's about a lot of guys doing their job -- worry about your game first and hopefully the way you're playing, you're kind of showing by example what needs to be done. We're all in this together."

That's especially true now that Tkachuk has been traded to Florida for three first-round NHL Draft picks -- two in the 2026 NHL Draft and one in the 2029 NHL Draft -- and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

Giroux said he never thought that Tkachuk could be on the way out until later last season.

"You just don't think that that's going to happen," he said. "Brady was captain here. He was great in the community, he did a lot for this community and you just don't think that kind of trade would happen. Obviously it did."

Giroux, who grew up in Ottawa and originally signed a three-year contract with the Senators as a free agent on July 13, 2022, came back for his fourth after conversations with his family, including his three kids. He had 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists) in 82 games for the Senators last season; he has played all but one of their regular-season games over his four years there. 

The Senators reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season, but were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in the first round.

He wanted to make sure that the "drive, the fire" was still there to play before signing.

"It didn't take very long for me to realize that I wanted to keep going, wanted to keep going with this organization and take that next step," he said. "We've been saying that for a few years now to take that next step, but it's time to do it now."

Giroux determined that he liked the mix in the locker room, that he liked his teammates, and he had some frank discussions with general manager Steve Staios. 

"We were just evaluating all the scenarios and at the end of the day, playing here, especially last year, the end of the second half we started clicking a little bit more, started playing some better hockey, so it's just exciting," he said.

Even without Tkachuk.

"Brady's a big personality and he brings a lot to the team, on and off the ice," Giroux said. "So obviously it's going to be a different look a little bit, but saying that we have a lot of guys, a lot of leadership in the locker room. They're young guys, so it's for them to keep playing the way they've been playing and bring some leadership in the locker room. … It's got to be a group effort and I'm excited to do that."