Giroux back to center permanently

[MacDonald4MVP]

Jeff would have to be ridiculously stupid to put him back at wing when couts comes back.

 

[KrazyKat]

This wear and tear bullshit sounds stupid. He’s an NHL player and has shown no signs of slowing down.

He’s the best player we’ve had “arguably”.
He should be center, considering we lack center depth. And Patrick isn’t quite ready for the 2nd line center role.

Van Reimsdyk — Giroux — Konecny
Laughton — Couturier — Simmonds
Lindblom — Patrick — Voracek
Raffl — Laughton — Weise

This is what I would roll. Despite people disagreeing with Voracek and Patrick staying together.

And I’m also happy with Stolarz.
I’d keep playing him. Even tomorrow. If he gets lit up, I don’t care. Throw him in again. He needs to learn. He’s 24 and has showed that he is better than Elliott and Neuvirth. With room to grow.

 

[deadhead]

This wear and tear bull**** sounds stupid. He’s an NHL player and has shown no signs of slowing down.

Wings skate a lot less than centers, and Giroux at wing tends to hang on the perimeter.

At center, you have to cover the other center on defense, and there are a lot of big, physical centers that will wear a smaller player like Giroux down over the course of 82 games.

 

[prototypical4thliner]

Wings skate a lot less than centers, and Giroux at wing tends to hang on the perimeter.

At center, you have to cover the other center on defense, and there are a lot of big, physical centers that will wear a smaller player like Giroux down over the course of 82 games.

It’s a good fallback option. Run him as your first line center for a stretch of games if you need to. Run him until you see his play dip a bit then adjust. He’s going to be an effective player at both positions.

Him and couturier getting pk shifts together now is just fun.

 

[Adtar02]

My only complaint about G going back to C is that it bumps Nolan Patrick (aka my son) down to the 3rd line.

I think that could help him see better matchups. I think he could win most of these too

 

[Hurricane28]

I understand why they wouldn't want to do it, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to do it through at least this year until they have some better depth

 

[Alex91]

This wear and tear bull**** sounds stupid. He’s an NHL player and has shown no signs of slowing down.

He’s the best player we’ve had “arguably”.
He should be center, considering we lack center depth. And Patrick isn’t quite ready for the 2nd line center role.

Van Reimsdyk — Giroux — Konecny
Laughton — Couturier — Simmonds
Lindblom — Patrick — Voracek
Raffl — Laughton — Weise

This is what I would roll. Despite people disagreeing with Voracek and Patrick staying together.

And I’m also happy with Stolarz.
I’d keep playing him. Even tomorrow. If he gets lit up, I don’t care. Throw him in again. He needs to learn. He’s 24 and has showed that he is better than Elliott and Neuvirth. With room to grow.

Poor Laughton is guna be exhausted after being 2Lw and 4c

 

[Angry Hockey Dad]

I think that could help him see better matchups. I think he could win most of these too

Good point. Maybe facing 3rd line matchups could help. My only concern is icetime then.

 

[Adtar02]

Good point. Maybe facing 3rd line matchups could help. My only concern is icetime then.

If he is playing 14 mins and winning those mins. And producing. He will gain confidence and they could slowly move his time up. His mins now are poor considering it basically him and coots. If g is there it makes sense he would see less time. He just needs to be winning the matchups. So many young players on other team excell cause they are sheltered. Last year Patrick was more so. He is still young

 

[Dumpster Flyers]

Last season as a winger, Giroux had 2.81 points/60 5v5.
In the two season before that as a center, he had 1.32 points/60.

You guys are forgetting just how woefully unproductive Giroux had become as a center at even strength.

 

[McNasty]

that left wing is ****...
and you should know by now that Patrick does not play well with Simmonds...
Our only hope is... if Simmonds clicks with Couturier because Patrick with Simmonds and the whole line will be MIA.

Nobody plays well with Simmonds because he's not good at hockey unless the puck is on his stick 6 ft away from the net

 

[Striiker]

Last season as a winger, Giroux had 2.81 points/60 5v5.
In the two season before that as a center, he had 1.32 points/60.

You guys are forgetting just how woefully unproductive Giroux had become as a center at even strength.

I'm sure the lower scoring the previous two seasons had nothing to do with him being injured, right?

 

[Harhis]

My only complaint about G going back to C is that it bumps Nolan Patrick (aka my son) down to the 3rd line.

I don't know if that's a bad thing as long as he gets 16-17 minutes a game.

 

[Dumpster Flyers]

I'm sure the lower scoring the previous two seasons had nothing to do with him being injured, right?

Right... his apparent injuries for the entirety of two season made him utter garbage at even strength but didn't affect him on the PP. That's selective extrapolation. Maybe he was just utter horse **** at even strength and that's a horrible excuse

 

[Tripod]

In the end, it can be used as an option. Or it can be used vs certain teams for matchup reasons.

A smart coach can use and exploit Giroux's dominance. Even change things mid-game when things are not working or the team needs a spark.

Plus, we hopefully only need it for this year. Hopefully Frost can step in next year.

 

[Striiker]

Right... his apparent injuries for the entirety of two season made him utter garbage at even strength but didn't affect him on the PP. That's selective extrapolation. Maybe he was just utter horse **** at even strength and that's a horrible excuse

I'm sorry to have upset you with facts.

Next time I'll let you be wrong.

 

[Jtown]

In the end, it can be used as an option. Or it can be used vs certain teams for matchup reasons.

A smart coach can use and exploit Giroux's dominance. Even change things mid-game when things are not working or the team needs a spark.

Plus, we hopefully only need it for this year. Hopefully Frost can step in next year.

all we have without giroux at center are good centers. The moment we have giroux at center all of a sudden we have 2 elite centers. Coots as a 2nd line center is a top 10 2nd line center in this league

 

[Lindberg]

I think at this point I'd rather have Weal or etc. on this team than Simmonds. He offers so little at 5v5.

 

[The Madrigal]

Its not about Giroux as much as its about center depth and whats good for the team. I said all last summer they needed another center. Patrick isnt a consistent second line center who can be heavily relied upon yet and they have a gaping hole at third line center.

Giroux, Couturier, Patrick down the midddle makes them a better team PERIOD.

 

[mja]

Right... his apparent injuries for the entirety of two season made him utter garbage at even strength but didn't affect him on the PP. That's selective extrapolation. Maybe he was just utter horse **** at even strength and that's a horrible excuse

His skating for most of those 2 seasons was clearly a level below where it is right now, and I highly doubt he suddenly became a better skater at age 29.

On the PP, his skating wasn't an issue, he was able to set up on the half wall and distribute, but it clearly affected him at even strength for most of those two seasons. He wasn't able to create space for himself and others off the rush the way he has been able since late in the 2016-17 season.

It's speculative, sure, but as far as speculation goes it's pretty damn cogent.

 

[Flyers1928]

until 19 shows anything, id keep G at center

 

[Angry Hockey Dad]

If he is playing 14 mins and winning those mins. And producing. He will gain confidence and they could slowly move his time up. His mins now are poor considering it basically him and coots. If g is there it makes sense he would see less time. He just needs to be winning the matchups. So many young players on other team excell cause they are sheltered. Last year Patrick was more so. He is still young

I don't know if that's a bad thing as long as he gets 16-17 minutes a game.

All good points. Hopefully we see Couts 2c and Patrick 3c and hopefully we'll see Patrick become the stud we all hope he's going to be

 

[kelmitchell]

This wear and tear bull**** sounds stupid. He’s an NHL player and has shown no signs of slowing down.

He’s the best player we’ve had “arguably”.
He should be center, considering we lack center depth. And Patrick isn’t quite ready for the 2nd line center role.

Van Reimsdyk — Giroux — Konecny
Laughton — Couturier — Simmonds
Lindblom — Patrick — Voracek
Raffl — Laughton — Weise

This is what I would roll. Despite people disagreeing with Voracek and Patrick staying together.

And I’m also happy with Stolarz.
I’d keep playing him. Even tomorrow. If he gets lit up, I don’t care. Throw him in again. He needs to learn. He’s 24 and has showed that he is better than Elliott and Neuvirth. With room to grow.

Nice to see laughton in such great shape that he is playing on both the 2nd and 4th line

 

[deadhead]

His skating for most of those 2 seasons was clearly a level below where it is right now, and I highly doubt he suddenly became a better skater at age 29.

On the PP, his skating wasn't an issue, he was able to set up on the half wall and distribute, but it clearly affected him at even strength for most of those two seasons. He wasn't able to create space for himself and others off the rush the way he has been able since late in the 2016-17 season.

It's speculative, sure, but as far as speculation goes it's pretty damn cogent.

G was definitely impacted in 2016-17, not so sure before that.
2014-15: 36 ES points, 37 PP points, 20:34, xGF 50.02, xGFrel +4.48
2015-16: 38 ES points, 27 PP points, 20:33, xGF 47.22, xGFrel -1.73
2016-17: 26 ES points, 36 PP points, 19:07, xGF 47.68, xGFrel -2.38

Injuries explain 2016-17, but the two previous seasons? A bit of a stretch.
Note that an injured Giroux could still excel on the PP, which shows that total points are misleading, PP points are different from ES points. You can be a 3rd line forward and remain a top PP producer, because Giroux doesn't skate a lot on the PP and can avoid pressure with quick passes.

2016: Flyers general manager Ron Hextall announced that Giroux, along with teammate Shayne Gostisbehere, will have surgery on May 17 to repair his right hip and a bilateral lower abdominal tear.

While he had various injuries before that, none were deemed serious. All hockey players are dinged during the season.
So there's no evidence he was injured in 2014-15, some that he might have been in 2015-16, definitely struggled to recover in 2016-17.
(if you look at 2015-16, no real falloff until April and the playoffs, so when was he injured?)

His play definitely made a huge jump at LW paired with Couts. Some was health, but compare to 2014-15, when he was healthy.

My feeling is he can play well at center in the short-run, but it would not be a good long-term strategy.

1) it would increase the workload of a 31 year old undersized center, and he'd be exposed to more contact and physical play, not optimal for longevity, as a wing he stays on the perimeter and away from traffic for the most part.

2) his defensive limitations would be exposed, he doesn't have great straight line speed and is undersized, attributes that allow him to remain effective offensively aren't as valuable on defense.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I would also prefer more of Giroux to less of Giroux.