Giroux Returns to Give the Senators Exactly What They Need
Claude Giroux deciding to come back for another season in Ottawa is one of those NHL stories that matters a great deal if you’re actually watching the Senators closely. It seems there was a moment when he considered retirement. At least it was briefly on the table. At 38, with 1,345 NHL games behind him, nobody would have blinked if Giroux decided he had done enough. But instead, he’s planning to return for one more season. And for Ottawa, that’s good news in practical terms.
Because whatever version of Claude Giroux you get now, he still solves problems.
Giroux is no longer a point-a-game player, but he still brings value.
He is no longer the 90-point driver from Philadelphia, and nobody in Ottawa is pretending otherwise. But what he is remains extremely useful. He’s calm with the puck, a driver of the team’s power play, and a player who understands pace better than most younger forwards still learning the league.
Last season’s 49 points are actually more revealing than they look on paper. That is production without forcing the game. He’s a player who knows when to attack, when to distribute, and when to simply settle things down when a shift starts to tilt the wrong way. Coaches trust that kind of player far more than fans sometimes realize.
His teammates trust him.
Giroux helps his team move toward consistency.
The Senators have spent years trying to move from “promising” to “reliable,” and that gap is often filled by exactly this type of veteran. Giroux brings structure to offensive shifts, but also something less measurable: decision-making under pressure. When games tighten in March and April, those small details decide whether a team survives or folds.
There is also the leadership piece, which in Giroux’s case is not manufactured. He has been a franchise face in Philadelphia, a veteran rental in Florida, and now a stabilizing presence in Ottawa. That experience matters in a room that is still learning how to win consistently.
Expect Giroux to sign a team-friendly base deal with incentives.
For Ottawa, keeping him likely on another short, incentive-heavy deal is almost ideal. It preserves flexibility while keeping a dependable middle-six presence who can continue to produce and mentor. And perhaps most importantly, it maintains continuity in a roster that does not always have enough.
The Senators are still trying to take the next real step as a group. Giroux, even in this stage of his career, helps make that step feel a little less uncertain.