- Elliotte Friedman reports Claude Giroux will re-sign with the Senators, with the contract close to done
- The 38-year-old drew interest from the Flyers and Maple Leafs after hitting free agency on July 1
- Read below for what Giroux’s return means for Ottawa’s cap and its retooled roster
Claude Giroux isn’t leaving Ottawa after all.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported Monday night that the veteran forward will re-sign with the Senators, and that the contract is nearly finished. “He will return to Ottawa, it is getting done,” Friedman posted.
That closes a free agency stretch that looked like it might pull Giroux somewhere else. Talks with Ottawa had stalled before July 1, and once he reached the open market the Flyers and Maple Leafs both circled. Philadelphia drafted him and got 15 seasons out of him, so a homecoming made for an easy story. It just isn’t the one that happened.
Giroux has spent the last four seasons with his hometown Senators. He put up 14 goals and 49 points across all 82 games last year, and he’s been one of the steadier veteran voices on a young roster.
His return carries extra weight this summer. Ottawa traded captain Brady Tkachuk to Florida and brought in William Eklund from San Jose, then added goalie Samuel Ersson and forward Andre Burakovsky. Keeping Giroux hands the room a familiar anchor through all of that turnover.
Money was the holdup. The Senators had roughly $5 million in projected cap space before the deal, so the terms will show how they made him fit. Friedman didn’t attach a number yet.
Across his career Giroux sits at 379 goals and 1,165 points in 1,345 games with the Flyers, Panthers, and Senators. He’s put up 85 goals and 242 points in 327 games since landing in Ottawa. At 38, he stays put, and the Senators keep a leader they weren’t sure they could bring back.
