Giroux: 2021-22 season 'probably the worst year' of his Flyers tenure
After yet another embarrassing late-game collapse, Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux was unflinchingly honest about his team's season.
"It's been probably the worst year since (I've been) here," Giroux told reporters after Philadelphia's 4-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. "It's been a tough year. Obviously, a lot of injuries, but I'm not going to start making excuses. It's been a long year."
He added: "There's still some meetings and some things to talk about with the management and see what the game plan is, not just for this year, but for the future."
The Flyers have an 18-30-11 record this season after winning six of their first 10 games.
As a result, Giroux, who's a pending unrestricted free agent, is one of the top available names ahead of the March 21 trade deadline. The 34-year-old has registered 18 goals and 24 assists in 56 games while playing out the final season of an eight-year deal with an average annual value of $8.275 million.
Despite recording his 900th point in his 999th career NHL game Sunday, Giroux's achievements were quickly overshadowed.
The Flyers held a 3-2 lead late in the third period when Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman took an interference penalty. The Habs then tied the game with a shorthanded tally with just over 40 seconds left in the game before forward Cole Caufield delivered the final dagger in overtime.
"We're gonna have to keep finding ways to get players to understand that you can play the way you want to play, or you can play winning hockey," interim head coach Mike Yeo said postgame. "Again, I think there were things that you can look at. Our defensive game is getting better, blah, blah, blah, that's nice. That's what you have to do. That's what you’re supposed to do.
"And there's a way to play with the puck where you're not turning it over and giving free ice and giving freebies to a team that obviously has skill. We still refuse to do that."
Yeo added that he's willing to take players' ice time away, demote them to the fourth line, or scratch them entirely, including veterans, in order to get his message across.