The Flyers officially began their post-Claude Giroud era on Sunday afternoon with a 2-1 win over the Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center.
Since the captain had gone to Florida, the refitting of the Flyers had just begun. Sunday was the club’s last game before the Monday trade deadline at 3:00 pm ET.
The Flyers (20-31-11) sell with more moves to come.
Kevin Hayes scored both goals for the Flyers. Travis Konecny and Joel Farabi recorded assists on both markers.
The Flyers avoided a loss to New York in a four-game series of the regular season, going 1-2-1 against the Islanders (26-25-9).
• After 15 years, Giroud’s legendary run in Philadelphia came to an end on Saturday night when the 34-year-old was traded to the Panthers.
“Even just spoke to him after his last game here and texted him a little, just thanking him for everything he did for me,” Farabi said after Sunday’s game. “A guy I could always look down on or talk to when I was down. I wish him all the best, I hope Florida has a really deep Cup win this year because he absolutely deserves it.”
Giroud entered this season in the final year of his eight-year, $66.2 million contract, which included a no-motion clause.
He held the keys here, and by right, and the destination was Florida.
“Eight years ago, we signed Claude to the long-term superstar deal he deserves,” Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said Sunday. “As part of that contract he had a no move clause and he deserved that right to have a big say in where he goes, I think that’s the best way to put it.
“I had a very limited market in terms of teams that I could connect with. I spoke with several teams, but not all of them I could make a deal. Claude showed great interest, but in the end it was a very limited market in which I could sell it.
Fletcher and the Flyers respected Giroud’s position.
“I don’t regret anything,” Fletcher said. “He deserved this right, I have full respect for him. We knew which hand we got. We grinded and did everything we could.”
“There was never any hostility, nothing caustic. Everything was done professionally, as it should be. We just worked with him, and within the constraints we had, we got the deal that we did.”
• Owen Tippett, the player the Flyers got in the Giroud deal, made his Philadelphia debut.
“I think I found out about this around 6:00 pm last night. A couple of hours later I was flying here,” Tippett said. “Ready to play, right into it.”
The 23-year-old winger was in line with Morgan Frost and Oskar Lindblom. The power forward ended the match without points, making two shots in 14:38 minutes.
“When we played against him earlier, I noticed I’ll use the term ‘weight’ in his game in the sense that he’s strong with the puck, competitive with the puck,” Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeoh said. before the game. “The kind of guy who can protect him and hold on to him and make you really strong in your check game.
“He’s a shooter, he wants to shoot and he has a great shot.”
Kevin Hayes, Flyers beat Islanders in last game before trade expires
• Jerry Mayhew, who was denied eligibility by the Flyers on Saturday, was taken by the Ducks.
The 29-year-old winger wrote a good story in Philadelphia. He started the year with two goals in 17 career NHL games. Signed to a one-year, $800,000 contract last summer, Mayhew played 25 games for the Flyers and scored six goals.
With his contract expiring and the Flyers in transition, he did not appear to be in the club’s plans for the future.
He will now travel to Anaheim for the next opportunity.
• The Flyers removed Justin Brown from the roster on Sunday for asset management purposes.
An experienced defender is likely to be transferred on time.
“Many teams have been calling Justin and we’ll see what that means the next day, whether we move him or not,” Fletcher said before the game. “He plays really hard, he blocks shots, he takes hits, so I just thought it would be prudent to at least fix that for the next 24 hours and just hold him for today.”
• On a two-goal game, Hayes has seven points (four goals, three assists) in eight games since returning from a groin infection.
For the Flyers, the silver lining for the rest of this season is that Hayes is becoming more and more like himself.
“He went through a lot of pain and injury at the beginning of the year,” Yeoh said on March 4. “I hope we can bring back a fully healthy Kevin Hayes because that would do a lot for us.”
• Carter Hart made 26 saves to secure the win.
A 23 year old player may have a new backup after Monday. With his experience and expiring contract, Martin Jones is one of the Flyers’ trading chips at the deadline.
New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin scored 2-1-0 this season with 75 saves on 81 shots against the Flyers. The 26-year-old made 35 of those saves on Sunday.
• After Monday’s deadline, the Flyers embark on a five-game road trip on Tuesday when they visit the Red Wings (7:30 pm ET/NBCSP).
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