Philadelphia Flyers' 'Fifth Wheel': Should Claude Giroux Still Kill Penalties?

Claude Giroux is the best player on the Flyers right now, by leaps and bounds. Come year’s end, it may be impossible to name 10 better players in the league. So keep that all in mind when you read what’s next. 

Giroux may be the Flyer’s biggest problem on the penalty kill.

Hear me out. The Flyers' penalty kill is currently ranked 21st in the NHL and has allowed five power play goals in twenty-five chances. Claude Giroux has been on the ice for three of them. That’s tops among Flyers forwards, despite being last in shorthanded ice time among the five forwards who regularly kill penalties.

Can you spot the problem inherent in the last sentence?

If you guessed the number "five”, then you’re correct.

In a regular five-on-four penalty kill, teams use a pairing of forwards with a pairing of defensemen. Basic, I know, but the “pairing” aspect is important here.

The Flyers used six forwards as penalty killers last year: Blair Betts, Darroll Powe, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, Andreas Nodl and Jeff Carter. We can do some simple math and derive three pairings from the above forwards.

This year, they are using five: Maxime Talbot, Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Nodl and Giroux. Simple division gives us two full pairings and a fifth penalty killer, who, so far, has happened to be Giroux.

Why do these pairings matter?

Because that’s how teams practice their penalty kills. The Flyers' two regular pairings of Talbot/Couturier and Read/Nodl take reps together in practice and, as such, get used to killing with one another. They get the cadence and timing of their partners down, allowing their play to become more instinctual and less reactionary.

Because Giroux has no regular partner (he ends up with Talbot most often), he doesn’t play instinctively with that other player the way the other killers do.

This could be seen on the Justin Williams power play goal on Saturday, as Giroux and Couturier both seemed to pinch halfway towards Williams as if neither were sure who was supposed to take the man.

Further on this same point, the second pairing, Read and Nodl (who play together almost exclusively on the kill) have improved noticeably over the first four games. They were particularly strong against the Kings, avoiding the failed clears that seemed to plague them against Boston and Vancouver.

Getting back to the point, the real question becomes that of what to do with Giroux.

While he is possibly the least effective shot blocker of the five, Giroux remains a top-flight penalty killer due to his gritty on-puck defense, inhuman anticipation and strong board play. On top of that, he’s always a threat to score shorthanded (he finished second in the NHL in shorthanded points last season with 7 [3 goals, 4 assists]).

However, should the Flyers continue to play him without a regular partner, they will leave themselves susceptible to power plays featuring strong puck movement due to the likelihood of miscommunication between Giroux and whomever his killing partner happens to be.

For now, though, if the Flyers are to improve on the penalty kill, they’re going to have to figure out what to do with their “fifth wheel.”