George Richards, FHN Publisher
CORAL SPRINGS — Claude Giroux said if he was able to line up with Sasha Barkov on the Florida Panthers top line, it would be like the first day of school, “just giggling a little bit.”
Barkov grinned when told this, and even though he says the start of school was not his favorite time of the year, he was still happy to have a talented new teammate join him.
“I think we’re going to have a lot of fun playing together,” Barkov said Tuesday. “We have such a great team, have a lot of guys who can play with anyone. I’m just really happy to be a part of this team.”
Tuesday morning, Giroux joined the Panthers for his first practice with the full squad even though his black-and-orange gloves holding an orange-accented stick clashed with the rest of the Florida color scheme he was decked out in.
If there was any question where the former Philadelphia Flyers’ captain would play, it was answered early on when the first line took its rush: Carter Verhaeghe on the left, Barkov in the middle and Giroux on the right.
An already potent line just got a whole lot better.
“It’s always great having a player like that on your wing,” Barkov said.
“You know you always trust him, get the puck out and it will find him. He’s one of those players you feel really comfortable playing with. I’m really excited to have him on our team and get the chance to play with him.”
Heading into the NHL Trade Deadline, the potential acquisition of Giroux by the Panthers was looked at as a high-priced, luxury item.
The Panthers, after all, are the highest-scoring team in the NHL and are deep at forward.
Getting another defensive was viewed as the priority. Bill Zito delivered one, trading with Montreal to get Ben Chiarot.
Once that deal was done, the Panthers turned their attention to Giroux.
The silky-handed Giroux apparently told the Flyers he would only waive his no-trade clause to join the Panthers.
Zito made sure it happened as Florida gave up their 2024 first-round pick as well as Owen Tippett to make the deal work.
“Bringing those guys here, adding those pieces to our team make us even better,’’ Barkov said. “It’s a huge message for us that we really want to win here and that we have the group that can do it. Now we have an even better group.
“Everyone feels it, we know we’re a really good team that added pieces which will make us better overall. We’re all excited, but we know it just starts now.”
Tuesday morning, Giroux was one of the first players to skate out onto the ice for his first official practice — he reportedly skated Monday night after his introductory press conference — with a big smile on his face.
“It was fun to see him out there, see how the group worked together,” coach Andrew Brunette said. “It’s going to be a work in progress, but I thought it was a pretty good day. … I thought he looked pretty happy, and we all looked pretty happy to watch him out there. He’s been such a great player. Everyone is excited to have him and he’s excited to be here. We’ll see how it evolves.”
Not only was there a lot of smiling at Tuesday’s workout, there was a lot of laughter beforehand as well.
Robert Hagg, a depth defenseman pulled in Sunday from Buffalo, played with Giroux in Philadelphia and said his first call upon hearing the news he was moving to Florida was to call another former Flyers teammate in Radko Gudas.
”He’s one of my closest friends,” Hagg said. “First off, he told me this is an amazing group which I can already tell just being around them a couple of hours. As soon as he picked up, he started laughing. That’s my first impression. We had a good laugh about it. We’re going to have a lot of fun.’’
Hagg added that he spoke with former Panthers’ defenseman Mark Pysyk about what to expect from the Panthers and was told he’s “going to love it.”
On Monday, Giroux said the same when he and former Florida defenseman Keith Yandle spoke.
Anyone who thought Yandle may hold some bitterness toward the way things ended for him with the Panthers can forget about that now.
“I asked him a lot of questions about Florida,” Giroux said. “He had a lot of good things to say. He’s a friend I am going to have for a while.”
The Panthers were all in pretty good spirits at Sunday’s practice a day after the Giroux trade went down and Tuesday was more of getting back after it — and seeing how things are going to work out.
Florida looked crisp and clean on Tuesday and made sure to get in plenty of power play time at the end of practice.
With power play quarterback Aaron Ekblad out until the end of the regular season, the Panthers brought back the five-forward power play unit with Barkov running quarterback with Giroux, Jonathan Huberdeau, Anthony Duclair and Sam Reinhart.
We mentioned potent before, right?
“Personally, I like it,” Barkov said. “We have a lot of talent there, can pass to anyone, get the puck to anyone and they will continue to do the right thing. It was a lot of fun. Even with four forwards and one D, we got a lot of looks.”
Said Brunette: “We have some time to figure things out. We have some moving parts and chemistry for those guys out there is going to be a big thing. We’re going to try and generate that. But they are all high-IQ players who will figure themselves out. … It’s a great option and we’re trying to make the pieces fit, sand down the edges a little bit.”
PRACTICE NOTES
On Monday, Chiarot said he had been staying in shape by using the Canadiens’ practice facility in Brassard while he worked through his immigration status and waited for the Panthers to arrive in Quebec to meet them.
“Very classy for them to do that,” Brunette said. “Speaks to what he meant to that organization as time has gone on. Nothing but good feelings to let him do that. It’s kind of unheard of to let him do that, so it is pretty cool.’’
Although Chiarot likely has his his U.S. work visa by now, even if he does not, he can still play in Florida’s next three games since they are all in Canada.
Brunette said he expects Chiarot to make his Panthers debut against the Canadiens on Thursday night even though he will not have practiced with the team.
The Panthers are holding a morning skate on Thursday but that is more like a walkthrough than a practice.
“He’s skating and ready to go,” Brunette said. “He’s excited so it’ll be fun to see him. … We hope to play him, we’ll see how he’s feeling. It’s more of a conversation with him and our staff to see where he is at.”
— Anton Lundell was once again absent from practice after Brunette said he didn’t participate Sunday due to an illness. He still has not been cleared of his lower-body injury.
“He didn’t skate before, he’s still feeling a little under the weather,” Brunette said. “We hope to have him anytime. He still needs to be cleared, his lower-body injury is still lingering.”
— Patric Hornqvist, who missed Friday’s game in Anaheim, was back on the ice as was Ryan Lomberg who can be activated off IR at any time.