(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
Just seven years ago, the Flyers were playing in the Stanley Cup Final. Following Sunday's game, the Flyers were beginning an early offseason, having missed the playoffs for the third time in five seasons.
In those five seasons there has been one constant: Claude Giroux has been the team's captain. It looks like it's time for that to change.
At one time, Giroux appeared to be the next offensive superstar to enter Flyers lore, but in what should be his prime, Giroux is regressing.
| YEAR | GP | G | A | P | +/- |
| 2012-13 | 48 | 13 | 35 | 48 | -7 |
| 2013-14 | 82 | 28 | 58 | 86 | 7 |
| 2014-15 | 81 | 25 | 48 | 73 | -3 |
| 2015-16 | 78 | 22 | 45 | 67 | -8 |
| 2016-17 | 82 | 14 | 44 | 58 | -15 |
In the seasons during which Giroux was the team captain, his offensive numbers have steadily declined. Giroux's defensive game has also declined, evident from his worsening plus-minus rating.
Giroux has become a power-play specialist, and he has become an ineffective player at even strength.
Since Giroux's first season as captain, 46 percent of his points have come on the power play and 41.2 percent of his career points have come with an extra man.
Two captains in the same age group as Giroux are Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby. The difference between these two players and Giroux is that they have both led their respective teams to multiple Stanley Cup victories while Giroux has not led the Flyers past the first round of the playoffs in his time as team captain.
A shared trait of Crosby and Toews is strong even-strength play. In their careers, Crosby has scored just 36.4 percent of his points on the power play, while Toews has scored an even more impressive 26.8 percent of his points with the man advantage. Crosby is a career plus-165 and Toews is a career plus-194 while Giroux has a career plus-minus rating of minus-1.
Giroux is "leading" the Flyers through one of their worst eras in team history, as Wayne Fish of the Burlington County Times and Courier Times has noted:
Flyers' playoffs history:
In—38
Out—11.
This is only the second decade they have been out more than twice.— wayne fish (@waynefish1) April 3, 2017
With the team beginning its long awaited transition to their plethora of prospects, now is the appropriate time to transition to a new leader as well.
As unusual as it is to strip a player of a captaincy in favor of a teammate, it has yielded positive results for one of the league's consistently elite teams.
The San Jose Sharks, last season's Western Conference champion, stripped Patrick Marleau of the captaincy in 2009 in favor of teammate Joe Thornton. The Sharks then stripped Thornton of the captaincy in 2014 in favor of current captain Joe Pavelski. Thornton and Marleau remain on the Sharks to this day, and San Jose has only missed the playoffs once since stripping Marleau of the captaincy.
While stripping a player of a captaincy will always be controversial, one cannot argue with the results that the Sharks have had by not being shy to do so. The Sharks have showed an advanced understanding of the state of their team.
The next question to ask is which player would be most deserving to fill Giroux's role, if any.
Newly named alternate captain Pierre-Edouard Bellemare could be one option. Bellemare has clearly endeared himself to the coaching staff, drawing top penalty killing duties and being selected over higher point producing players such as Jake Voracek to fill the vacancy left by Mark Streit.
Bellemare brings a high-energy game that endears itself to Flyers' fans. His lack of scoring output should not be taken into consideration, as the player should be judged by his role. Point output does not automatically result in a captaincy.
Former Flyers captain Jason Smith led the Edmonton Oilers to a Stanley Cup appearance in a season where he only scored 17 points in 76 games. Throughout Smith's career, he was a stay-at-home defenseman who rarely contributed on offense, but he led the locker room.
Another former Flyers captain is Derian Hatcher who captained the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup victory in 1999. Hatcher, like Smith, was not an offensive force but demanded the respect of his team and was able to navigate his team to a Stanley Cup.
Giroux and many other captains across the league and throughout history have shown that leadership is not correlative to offensive skill. Bellemare's playing style demands the respect of his teammates.
Despite Bellemare's qualifications to become the captain, the best option to become the team's next captain is Wayne Simmonds.
While Simmonds has been the team's best goal scorer over the past few seasons, his offensive game is irrelevant to why he deserves to be the team captain. No player on the current roster represents the Flyers better off of the ice.
Simmonds does provide the passion and work ethic reminiscent of the previous Flyers' eras, but it is Simmonds work ethic off of the ice that should earn him a new letter on his jersey.
Flyers founder Ed Snider built a franchise that was known for its role in the community, and no player upholds the philanthropic values of the Flyers more than Simmonds. Not to say that Snider did not see Giroux as a fitting captain, but there is no doubt that Snider would given his stamp of approval on Simmonds as captain.
Simmonds was placed on the board of directors for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation prior to Snider's passing, a role which now tasks him with upholding the legacy of one of Snider's most prideful ventures. Scott Tharp, president of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, expressed that Snider had a "magnetic attraction" to Simmonds's work ethic and demeanor.
In addition to working closely with the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, Simmonds is an avid supporter of Scott Hartnell's #HartnellDown Foundation while also running his Wayne's Road Hockey Warriors organization which brings hockey to less fortunate children in Scarborough, Ontario — Simmonds' hometown.
No single player represents the values set forth by the late Snider more than Wayne Simmonds. He plays a physical and fearless game that has allowed fans to admire him and he is known league-wide as a tireless worker who will never hesitate to defend his teammates. P.K. Subban was seen on video warning former teammate Max Pacioretty that he "cannot fight Wayne Simmonds."
Simmonds is a player who leads by example on and off the ice. An all-star this past season, he has also proven that he is as much of an asset off of the ice. While Giroux has been sinking, Simmonds has captured the very essence of Flyers hockey. That transition should be enough to transition the leadership rankings as well.
