Ottawa Senators “Ready to Take the Next Step” Adding Claude Giroux

The lingering question of “Will he or won’t he sign with Ottawa?” finally came to a crescendo shortly after noon Wednesday when Claude Giroux signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract with his hometown Senators.

The contract which includes a full no-move clause carries an average annual value of $6.5M.

The 34-year-old will earn $7M in each 2022-23, 2023-24, and $5.5M in 2024-25.

It’s been quite a few days for Senators general manager Pierre Dorion who also added Blackhawks sniper Alex DeBrincat to his forward core among his moves.

In a team release, Dorion said, “We’re thrilled to add a player of Claude’s calibre to our lineup. He’s an elite offensive talent with exceptional face-off prowess and a player who maintains a strong work ethic. His leadership skills are arguably among his best assets. We’ve set out to bolster our roster this off-season and this addition is another important component in helping us achieve that. We’re very happy to welcome Claude and his family home to Ottawa.”

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Dorion appeared more excited in person during his media availability to get the player he waited for four years to get under contract.

“Everywhere I’ve been going in Ottawa in the last two months, everyone has been asking me, “Are you signing Claude?,” said the Senators GM.

“I can’t go to the grocery store. I can’t go to the beer store. I can’t go to the liquor store. I can’t go anywhere. I know people are going to have a hard time believing this, but I remember sitting with (Senators late owner) Eugene (Melnyk) in that year in February saying, “I know one guy I want to sign in four years.” I looked up when Claude’s contract was due – said “He’s going to help us get to that next level, a long time ago when we decided to do this rebuild.”

For Giroux who resides a few minutes from the Canadian Tire Centre, it’s an opportunity to play in front of family and friends for the first time since spending his junior career across the river in Gatineau for the Olympiques.

Claude Giroux gives a thumbs up. #Sens @FullPressNHL pic.twitter.com/u62zO8YYIB

— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) July 13, 2022

Dealt by Philadelphia to the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline, the longest-tenured Flyers captain (10 years) and second among franchise leaders in assists (609) and points (900), Giroux laughed when he asked if he could walk to work?

“It’s funny, but I probably could.” But the Hearst, ON-born forward stated his thoughts on joining an up-and-coming Senators team.

“It’s something, obviously you think about your whole career. It was the first time a couple of weeks after summer, I had a thought – started thinking about it. The more I thought, it made a lot of sense. And this team, the one thing I remember from playing last year was, you don’t like to play against. They’re a pain in the butt to play against. They have a lot of character, a lot of skills, a young team – obviously something you want to be a part of.”

The addition of DeBrincat also swayed his decision, “The moves that Pierre was able to do the last few weeks, obviously helped my choice a lot. I’m very excited…I wish camp was tomorrow.”

https://twitter.com/Senators/status/1547286564065185792?t=JyrFo4RoSlmbpVzXS9nAzQ&s=19

Giroux told Full Press Hockey that Ottawa was always his preferred destination, “I looked at other options, what was going to best for my family (wife, Ryanne, sons Gavin and Palmer) and myself and my career. At the end of the day and with all the options, Ottawa was the one I wanted to follow. It’s worked out great.”

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