Giroux back to center?

[FrozenInferno]

Reports out of Philly and posted on TSN...

https://www.tsn.ca/flyers-may-move-g...ntre-1.1137281

...have Giroux being forced back to center out of necessity since the Flyers lost center depth and failed to replace it in free agency.

I would imagine a lot of us had Giroux pegged as a sell high anyway because 100 pts would be hard for him to replicate even if he kept the same deployment, but if this were true he could certainly take a bigger step back. He will obviously keep his PP time however.

Thoughts? Not just on Giroux but other Flyers who could take a hit from a shakeup? Couturier, Voracek, Ghost etc?

[cheese_cake]

I think there is a lot of time still until the beginning of the season. Laughton is laughable (I'm sorry) at center so they need a replacement, but they could always add one through trade.
If this was true though, Patrick would be the one to suffer the most (sad because he picked up the pace at the end of last season) but this could be mitigated if he retained some PP1 exposure.
Couturier could also lose some value. And of course, Giroux.

[Eskimo Brother]

JVR replaces most of Giroux's value at LW, and Giroux then fills in the C depth lost from UFA Filpulla. So yes, this pushes Patrick down the lineup, but I don't think it does all that much else.

[stevegamer]

I've heard that, and the source isn't exactly one of the top sources for Flyers news. I'd call it possible, but it's not like it's a guarantee. They "lost center depth" but it was just Filppula who exited.

Look at the potential centers:
Couturier
Giroux
Patrick
Konecny
Laughton
Weal
Lehtera
Frost (top propsect center)

I'm not seeing a huge need there.

[The Comish]

Meh, as long as Giroux is still in the top six, I can't see his output affected enough for me to worry.

[Pengwin7]

Personally, I'd like to see the Flyers give Phil Varone a shot at the NHL.
The current NHL is smaller and quicker... and Varone actually fits into this NHL much better than the one he was drafted into in 2009.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/15485/phil-varone

He did take over 10 Faceoffs a game with Buffalo back in 2014-2015.
https://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/players/5627/

Good Reading for Flyer fans:
https://www.broadstreethockey.com/20...nningham-award

[SeaDawg]

I'm a little concerned since this report came out. It makes sense to me that they'd put Giroux back to center, and although I think a repeat of last season was unlikely even at LW, I think a return to center will really hurt his production. I also think Couturier and Voracek will see a significant drop if the three don't play together.

By all accounts, JvR/Couturier will be one pairing and Giroux/Voracek will be another. When Giroux plays center, he has to focus more on defense. When Couturier was center, that allowed Giroux to go all offense and the results were amazing.

The only way this changes is if they feel confident enough for a young player like Patrick or Konecny to be a full time 2nd line center. I don't see that happening, unfortunately.

I think as a result of this news, Giroux will go back to getting 70~ pts next year (which was pretty much his range for the last few years with him playing center).

I'm not worried about Gostisbehere, cause he gets most of his points on the PP and the PP will still be awesome.

Provorov will likely drop off a bit, considering almost all of his points came at even strength.

[PenguinHunter]

I don't think the Flyers would have let Filpulla walk if they were concerned about their C depth.

I think if they were concerned they would have offered him something rather than saying from the start of the process that they would not be signing him.

[Belexus75]

Giroux took 1100 FOW last year...even if he switched to LW mid play from time to time he still was really a C for big chunk of his icetime.

[SeaDawg]

I don't think the Flyers would have let Filpulla walk if they were concerned about their C depth.

I think if they were concerned they would have offered him something rather than saying from the start of the process that they would not be signing him.

Maybe their plan all along was to move Giroux back to center? They have lots of depth with him there.

Giroux took 1100 FOW last year...even if he switched to LW mid play from time to time he still was really a C for big chunk of his icetime.

He took a lot of face offs, but he didn't have to play the middle of the ice and be the defensive conscious on his line. That was Couturier's job. Couturier is so good defensively, that Giroux could cheat offensively, rush up the ice a bit sooner, not necessarily have to rush back on defense, play the perimeter, etc.

If Giroux can't play the same style next year, his production will drop considerably.

[fungchen3]

Don't be shocked if Morgan Frost makes the team as the 3rd line center. He will play a ton in every preseason game and given the chance to prove he belongs. He was lights-out in development camp and is a puck wizard. If he can go 45-50% in the dot this preseason, he'll at least gets 9 games IMO. He will likely be flanked by Simmonds and another very good 200 foot player in Lindblom. After watching Giroux and Couturier both post career years, Hakstol would be a total goober to mess with that mojo.

[Moses]

HAHAHA!! Nobody knows how the Flyers lines are going to shake out for this season. Not Hakstol, not Hextall, not John Boruk.

[fungchen3]

HAHAHA!! Nobody knows how the Flyers lines are going to shake out for this season. Not Hakstol, not Hextall, not John Boruk.

John Boruk.