Is Giroux Costing The Flyers?
The Philadelphia Flyers, to put it bluntly, aren't flying. In fact it's hard not to notice how badly the team is performing this season. Only Buffalo sits below the Flyers in the league.
Many fingers across the internet are starting to point at Flyers captain Claude Giroux.
Last season Giroux averaged a point per game, even more the season before that. So far this season? After 15 games, he's contributed seven points. All from assists.
There's no doubt that assists are important, but the Flyers have scored the fewest goals in the league so far. The top five teams' first lines are averaging 15 goals each, while the Flyers' front line has scored seven.
Now it's hard to compare the best teams in the league with Philadelphia, a team still being rebuilt, but Giroux has said this season that the Flyers are going to challenge for the Stanley Cup. If that's really going to happen, the Flyers are going to need a lot more goals.
This is the thing.
Giroux is a great player. When he's on form, he's one of the best in the league. But he's also the Flyers' most expensive forward. Right now the Flyers have zero cap space which means that if the scoring situation continues, the team can only pick from the Adirondack Phantoms, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Phantoms are currently 5-4-0 and third in their division.
I don't think it's fair to pin the whole blame on Giroux, the problems go much deeper at Philadelphia. Although in the great unfairness that is sport, the captain will always be poster boy of a failing team. It's possible that it's the pressure of being captain of a struggling team, or maybe it's just the EA curse but as long as things fail to improve, every point that he fails to score will be scrutinised.
Many fingers across the internet are starting to point at Flyers captain Claude Giroux.
Last season Giroux averaged a point per game, even more the season before that. So far this season? After 15 games, he's contributed seven points. All from assists.
There's no doubt that assists are important, but the Flyers have scored the fewest goals in the league so far. The top five teams' first lines are averaging 15 goals each, while the Flyers' front line has scored seven.
Now it's hard to compare the best teams in the league with Philadelphia, a team still being rebuilt, but Giroux has said this season that the Flyers are going to challenge for the Stanley Cup. If that's really going to happen, the Flyers are going to need a lot more goals.
This is the thing.
Giroux is a great player. When he's on form, he's one of the best in the league. But he's also the Flyers' most expensive forward. Right now the Flyers have zero cap space which means that if the scoring situation continues, the team can only pick from the Adirondack Phantoms, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Phantoms are currently 5-4-0 and third in their division.
I don't think it's fair to pin the whole blame on Giroux, the problems go much deeper at Philadelphia. Although in the great unfairness that is sport, the captain will always be poster boy of a failing team. It's possible that it's the pressure of being captain of a struggling team, or maybe it's just the EA curse but as long as things fail to improve, every point that he fails to score will be scrutinised.
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