Senators Re-Signing Claude Giroux Is a No-Brainer

The Ottawa Senators have three pending free agents at forward: Lars Eller, Nick Cousins, and Claude Giroux. Management has some holes to fill, including a top-six forward and a few spots in the bottom six to battle it out with Kurtis MacDermid, Hayden Hodgson, and the rising prospect Stephen Halliday. But re-signing Giroux is a no-brainer.

Pierre LeBrun reported that the 38-year-old veteran is not ready to hang up his skates just yet. The wheels haven’t completely fallen off, and Giroux hopes to be back in a Senators’ jersey for his 20th NHL season in 2026-27.

Giroux’s Faceoff Prowess Too Valuable to Lose

Giroux returned to the Senators on a one-year deal this season and continued to be a productive top-nine, faceoff specialist. He led the league in faceoff percentage with a 63.1% success rate – only Dylan Cozens took more faceoffs than him on the team. Additionally, his impact on the draw was most valuable in the defensive zone and on the penalty kill. 

Although Giroux wasn’t one of the leading penalty killers on the team, like Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto, head coach Travis Green had the veteran forward consistently go out to win key defensive zone faceoffs, which he did remarkably well. During the regular season, Giroux was 69.6% on faceoffs while shorthanded and 68.3% for defensive zone draws. 

Winning faceoffs is one of the most underrated skills in the NHL. Having a player like Giroux in the dot when you’re protecting a lead and down a man is invaluable. Pinto and Greig are the team’s other defensively reliable forwards who could fill Giroux’s role if he doesn’t return, but the two of them combined for a faceoff percentage of 51.5%. That’s a -11.6% dropoff.

Will Giroux’s Age Factor into the Senators’ Decision?

The Senators will likely want to re-sign Giroux, not only for his face-off success but also because he has become a well-respected leader in the locker room. He is a calming, mature presence for core players like Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle.

Will his age factor into management’s decision to re-sign him? By all accounts, Giroux’s skating and speed haven’t hit the brakes, but his foot speed has become noticeably slower over the past two seasons. That’s natural after nearly 1,400 games in the NHL. But having strong foot speed is crucial for a shutdown role.

The Carolina Hurricanes, who are heading to the Stanley Cup Final, have never-ending speed up and down their forward lineup. They attack with speed with and without the puck. The Senators, who got an up-close look at that in the first round of the playoffs, should want to mimic that. 

The ideal fit for Giroux is on the third line, but that may put him in a shutdown role with Pinto. Giroux, Pinto, and Michael Amadio had success driving the shot and scoring chance share on a line together, according to Natural Stat Trick, but management will have to hope that his pace of play doesn’t worsen as his offensive production has slowed.

The Senators want to win now. Despite a first-round sweep by the Hurricanes, the team has the young pieces that can look like a contending team on any given night. Giroux’s play wasn’t bad in the playoffs, but he was wildly ineffective with the puck on his stick. The Senators cannot have him playing in their top six anymore, but that doesn’t mean they should let him walk.  

With the salary cap skyrocketing up to $104 million and no pending big contracts to be signed, the Senators could bring back Giroux on another reasonable $2 million, one-year deal. If the organization decides to make a big move and bring in a player like Jason Robertson, Alex Tuch, or right-shot defenseman Rasmus Andersson, then the debate will begin on Giroux’s return. 

Giroux’s ice time is already down, averaging 12:43 per game at even strength (eighth most on the team amongst forwards), which is a drop of nearly one minute from last season. With the salary cap increasing and Giroux’s positive impact outweighing the negatives, it seems like a smart decision for the Senators to re-sign the veteran hometown forward.