Philadelphia Flyers: Five Reasons Claude Giroux Is the Best Player in Hockey

Claude Giroux, forward for the Philadelphia Flyers, currently sits second in the NHL with 60 points this season. Over the course of the year, he has been talked about as a rising star, and even as a possible Hart Trophy candidate.

The Flyers put the offense in Giroux’s young hands when they traded team captain Mike Richards and top goal-scorer Jeff Carter in the offseason, and the 24 year-old Hearst, Ontario native has not disappointed. In fact, his success thus far has caused even the most skeptical of Flyers fans to forget all about Richards and Carter.

Giroux is undoubtedly the best player on the Flyers, but is he the best in the league? That point is debatable, but an argument can certainly be made that he is.

Let’s take a look at the reasons that Giroux could currently be hockey’s biggest star.

He Is Thriving in a High-Pressure City

Being the best player in the NHL comes with expectations, but those expectations vary based upon city. Expectations in Vancouver are that you’ll win a Stanley Cup or face a riot. Expectations in Columbus usually amount to hoping that you get to be one of the first thousand fans through the door so you can get your complimentary Rick Nash bobble-head (don’t worry, there will be plenty left over).

For a player like Nash, or Steven Stamkos, or John Tavares, being the best player on the team is not a high-pressure role. The fans and media in these areas do not overanalyze every move and every game. They don’t see three consecutive games without a point as evidence that the player has lost his touch. They don’t blame their superstar center for problems in net, just for the sake of finding blame.

Philadelphia is a city that puts pressure on players like Giroux, and never more so than when Mike Richards and Jeff Carter left town, leaving the emerging star at the helm of the team's offense.

Playing in a tough city alone doesn’t make Giroux the best player in hockey, but it is an argument against other players. Stamkos and Tavares have never played for a team with the expectations that Giroux deals with.

Giroux, on the other hand, has eliminated any doubt about whether or not he can perform in some of the most intense situations known to hockey players.

He Is Becoming the Right Kind of Leader

In this day and age, being a great player is more than what you do on the ice, it’s also how you behave off of it.

Before being traded, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards were central figures in Philadelphia sports, but they were held back as truly great athletes—both on the ice and in the court of public opinion—because of their questionable antics on their nights off.

Carter and Richards were repeatedly photographed out late on nights before games, drinking, partying and generally seeming unconcerned with how their lifestyle would affect their on-ice performance and relationships with teammates.

Giroux always appeared to be the anti-Richards/Carter. While he was a young center with comparable ability and potential, Giroux was not known for the Old City antics that made Richards and Carter infamous. Instead, Giroux was focused on developing as a player and winning hockey games.

With the villains gone and Chris Pronger out with a long-term injury, Giroux has assumed major responsibilities for the team. He is an alternate captain, likely being groomed for the “C” later in his career, and has a large group of young players on offense looking at him for leadership.

With help from veterans Danny Briere and Jaromir Jagr, Giroux has not disappointed. He has only missed four games this season, is one of the most well-conditioned players on the team, makes smart plays and outlets his emotions in a smart manner.

Flyers fans sometimes got vibes of apathy from Richards and Carter when the team was struggling; this will never happen with Claude Giroux. He is quickly becoming an intelligent, inspiring leader on the team, and one of the most accountable talents in the league.

He Is as Good Defensively as He Is on Offense

No forward should be considered the best player in the league if he is a one-dimensional player.

For years, fans would debate Crosby vs. Ovechkin, and initially, Ovechkin’s advantage on the stats sheet was the strongest argument that he was the best player in the game. However, knowledgeable hockey fans rejected the notion that pure offensive talent was enough to make Ovi the best; Crosby was a two-way forward who could pass the puck, kill penalties and back-check.

If you’re building a hockey team, you would rather have that (not to mention Sid’s leadership) over Ovechkin’s ability to pick corners of the net from the blue line. That’s exactly why Ovi has never been beyond the second round of the playoffs, while Crosby has a Stanley Cup and a Gold Medal.

Giroux mirrors Crosby in a number of ways, particularly those attributes that make both players valuable anywhere on the ice. Giroux is one of Philadelphia’s top players on the power-play as well as the penalty-kill. His on-ice vision is difficult to match, and he plays a more physical game than you would expect from a player who tops out at 5’11”, 172 pounds.

Opponents need to be aware of Giroux no matter where the puck is, and that makes him more dangerous than one-dimensional players like Ovechkin, Stamkos, and Ilya Kovalchuk.

He Has Years of Development Ahead of Him

Claude Giroux turned 24 last month, and he is only in his third full season in the NHL. He’s well on his way to being a consistent point-per-game player, and that ratio is only expected to rise.

Last season, Giroux finished with 76 points in 82 games played, the most on the team. His playoff numbers are even more impressive. In his first season, he notched five points in six games, followed by 21 points in 23 games during Philadelphia’s 2010 run to the Stanley Cup. Last season, he was one of the few Flyers to show up in the playoffs, finishing with 12 points in 11 games.

Now, he’s turned a team whose offense was expected to be a liability into a high-powered scoring threat, despite the presence of so many rookies and new faces.

Not only is Giroux getting better, but he plays in a system that is going to get better as well. Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn are poised to turn into scoring threats, and Jakub Voracek is already showing his playmaking abilities.

For Giroux, these budding point machines will help pad his own stats, whether by teaming up with them on Philadelphia’s top line or because defenses will have to respect two or three balanced scoring lines. Either way, the ice will open up for Giroux.

Don’t expect Giroux’s time in Philadelphia to end without the franchise’s first 100-point scorer since Eric Lindros in 1995-96, and don’t be surprised if he locks up a Hart Trophy somewhere along the line.

The Title Is Up for Debate

Let’s face it. Even Flyers fans have to admit that, if Sidney Crosby were healthy, he would be the undisputed best player in the sport.

Few players can match Crosby’s combination of leadership, scoring ability, defensive prowess and on-ice vision. However, Crosby has been battling concussion problems/neck issues since the 2011 Winter Classic, playing in only 12 games since January 5^th of last year.

With Crosby out of commission, and his traditional rival Alexander Ovechkin no longer putting up league-leading numbers, the title of “Best Player in Hockey” looks poised to shift to a new star.

Steven Stamkos is an offensive sensation, but he has yet to establish himself as a two-way threat or the leader that Giroux is. Evgeni Malkin is having a bounce-back season, but playing in Pittsburgh, he will likely always be in the shadow of Crosby, and his leadership abilities are not as refined as his teammate’s.

Giroux’s stats are good enough to put him in the conversation this season, but it’s his tenacity on ice—his willingness to hit and be hit—and his defensive responsibility that truly set him apart from players like Stamkos and Malkin.