Colorado Avalanche Reveal They Had Deal Completed to Acquire Future Hall-of-Famer

During the 2022 trade deadline, there was a lot of speculation on Claude Giroux potentially heading to the Colorado Avalanche. While nothing materialized and Giroux was traded to the Panthers, it seems like things were close with Colorado.

The Avalanche recently have been auctioning off a bunch of old jerseys in support of charity and there are two interesting Claude Giroux jerseys on the site.

Having played 1,100 NHL games, Giroux has registered over 1,000 points establishing himself as a future Hall of Famer and Flyers legend. However, the cup is one of the biggest things that Giroux seems to be missing right now.

If Giroux were to be traded to the Avalanche instead of the Panthers, Giroux would certainly have a Stanley Cup right now. Giroux could have also been more willing to sign for cheaper with the Avalanche as they would have won a cup with Giroux and he could have wanted to be a part of more championship runs.

The Panthers gave up Owen Tippett and a 2024 1st round pick to acquire Giroux and Tippett scored 27 goals for the Flyers last year establishing himself as an elite goal scorer. Tippett would likely be somewhere else right now and could even still be on the Panthers who could have used his goalscoring capabilities in the Stanley Cup finals versus the Golden Knights.