Because of a few reasons.
- Flyers are stacked up the middle. They may not be ready to trade Giroux but they have solid depth after Giroux.
- Flyers can use the Cap space to improve their team.
- Habs need a top 2 center.
- I'm concerned with Giroux and his decline over the last few seasons but I still think he is a 60 pts center for the rest of his contract (age 30-34)
- Patch helps the Flyers on LW and his contract is one of the best in the league. Hate to trade Patch but he's the guy we get our best return for in a trade. Flyers can try to re sign him or trade him at the trade deadline 2 seasons from now and he would fetch quite the return!
I just look across the league and Giroux's name will keep popping up due to Flyers depth at center, his decline in stats, and his contract. I'm not the only one who has noticed this and won't be the last.
You say you believe he'll score 60 points a year for the remainder of his deal. Who on the Flyers is going to replace that production? If they trade Giroux, they are no longer "stacked" down the middle. They're left with the same issue that's plagued them since 2013 except relying on an unproven 19 year old to produce a huge part of the offense.
We can both agree that Pacioretty is on a great contract and he'd be a great addition to any contender. Why would a team trade their number 1 center to get him though if they are looking to capitalize on that value? I don't expect you to know everything about the Flyers, but they have Voracek, Simmonds, Konecny, and Lindblom to likely occupy their top 6 wing positions. They've drafted SIX forwards in the top 2 rounds in just the last 2 drafts. They have players like Raffl and Weise locked up for a few years who will also be on the roster. I like Pacioretty, the Flyers don't have any need for him though considering where they are at. He's also not the type of player you give a monster contract too, which is what he'll be looking for when his current deal is up.
Another question, what are the Flyers going to try and get with this extra cap space? Before you say goalie, Hextall isn't spending any money there because he believes in what they have coming up through the system. Before you say defense, Hextall has already committed to the youth movement on the back end. We just went over what they have on the wings. My best guess is they'd be looking for a center that can produce 60+ points on offense. You think Hextall wants to trade what it would cost to bring in a top 6 center instead of just holding onto his captain?
I understand the logic behind trading Giroux if the pieces coming back are young top 6 potential centers with #1 potential, but that's unlikely to happen due to the value of those players around the league. Montreal just does not fit with what the flyers would want.