Claude Giroux, a leading scorer in the NHL? Is that a surprise to you?
It may be surprising to hyper-critical Flyers fans and to the pundits of the NHL, but to those who have watched Giroux’s career the closest in Philadelphia, this should come as no surprise.
On Sunday, Rob Vollman, the author of Hockey Abstract, tweeted that there has been a "surprising" scoring leader over the past five years. Giroux leads the way with 367 points in the last five seasons. Behind him are Sidney Crosby (366), Patrick Kane (360), Alex Ovechkin (352) and Jamie Benn (351).
A surprising scoring leader over past 5 years:
367 Giroux
366 Crosby
360 Kane
352 Ovechkin
351 Benn
350 Tavares
342 Malkin
340 Thornton— Rob Vollman (@robvollmanNHL) July 18, 2016
So why is this not surprising?
Giroux has been a focal point of the Flyers top line for the last five years. There was only one season where he didn’t lead the team in points, 2014-15, when he trailed Jake Voracek by eight points. The last five seasons dating back to the 2011-12 season and include the lockout-shortened season in 2013. In all, Giroux has missed 10 games in that time, playing in a total of 366 games, making Giroux a point-per-game player in that timeframe.
And yet, as Vollman points out, Giroux is constantly left off Top 10 lists despite being one of the most consistent scorers in the league over the years. So why doesn’t Giroux get enough credit? There are three plausible reasons.
Giroux will enter the 2016-17 season with 517 career points. Of those 517 points, 351 of them are assists, roughly 68 percent.
Despite having the highest point total in the last five seasons, Giroux is tied for 27th in goals with 116, trailing almost all of the big names he leads on the points list, and even his own teammate Wayne Simmonds, who has scored 132 goals in the last five seasons.
Goal scoring is what draws attention in the NHL, and while Giroux has been consistent in his production — his goal totals in the last five years are 28, 13 (in 48 games), 28, 25 and 22 — he doesn’t have a 30-goal season to his name and the majority of his points come as helpers.
In his career, Giroux has averaged 19:34 of ice time, but in the last five seasons, the average has steadily increased. In each of the last five seasons, Giroux has averaged over 20 minutes of ice time, including two seasons where the totals approached 22 minutes.
One portion of that time is dedicated to trying to boost those numbers, whether at even strength or on the power play. But Giroux has also had to serve as a penalty kill specialist as well in recent years.
When you compare Giroux to the others at the top of the list — Crosby, Ovechkin and Kane — Giroux easily plays the most while his team is shorthanded.
Of those four players last season, Giroux took the highest number of average shifts per game, 27.2. Crosby came in second with 26.4. Kane averaged an even 24, while Ovechkin had 21.7.
Which brings us back to the shorthanded time on ice. Last season, Crosby played a total of 32:18 of shorthanded time. Kane played just 3:39. Ovechkin had just 18 seconds of ice time while his team was shorthanded. Giroux played 115:08 of shorthanded time last season, easily besting all three by a mile.
And while Giroux had the second-highest average power-play time per game, 3:51, he had the lowest average even-strength time, 15:12. That doesn’t factor in the situations in which that 5-on-5 time comes, whether in the hellacious 3-on-3 overtime, or the final seconds while protecting a one-goal lead where, essentially, Giroux is a penalty-killer again.
For all the situations there are where the Flyers use Giroux as a defensive presence over a scoring presence, he’s managed to maintain the lead in points over the last five seasons.
Another reason Giroux’s success shouldn’t come as a surprise is the general lack of scoring that has been for the Flyers in recent years. While Simmonds has grown to become a goal-scoring threat of late, there is really no comparison on the Flyers to Giroux when it comes to spreading out the points.
While the Flyers maintain that it is their long-term goal to add a Top-6 presence who can score, Giroux has had to be the go-to guy constantly.
This is where near point-per-game numbers come from. Giroux is playing greater minutes in the games that matter most, giving him a better chance to produce points. And what makes Giroux’s status at the top less surprising is the fact that with no real additional scoring threats around, Giroux is an easy target for opposing defenses.
In the playoff series against Washington, the Capitals high-pressure penalty kill shut down the Flyers top unit, and their veteran defensemen made easy work of the Flyers one-trick pony — pushing Giroux, Simmonds and Brayden Schenn at the top, followed by three lines that tremendously lacked depth.
When you think about who Crosby plays with and has complimenting his game, it makes sense that a talented player would not only produce points, but have a better chance of facing a third-pairing on defense every now and then. Giroux goes without such depth and complimentary linemates — though Simmonds and Schenn have helped make Giroux’s totals spike from time to time — yet he still produces at the top every season.
It is clear that this is no surprise. Giroux is in fact an elite player, even if it isn’t recognized around the league.
Kevin Durso is an editor for Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
