With the Flyers off to a sluggish start with only eight victories in their first 21 games, some have wondered if captain Claude Giroux, who’s on an expiring contract, could be a candidate to move between now and the trade deadline in March. However, he has a full no-move clause and told reporters on Friday, including Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that he hasn’t given any thought about waiving that at this time. The 33-year-old is off to a good start this season with 18 points in 21 games to lead Philadelphia in scoring. And with Giroux's cap hit of $8.25 million, few contenders would be able to add him at this stage of the season. If Giroux was to decide to waive his trade protection, a deal closer to the trade deadline would be a little easier to work out.
Elsewhere in the East:
- The Sabres have released (Twitter link) an updated timeline for their injured players, and a notable change is that goaltender Craig Anderson has been reclassified from week-to-week to month-to-month. The 40-year-old has missed a little more than a month now due to his upper-body injury, and this change in status likely played a role in Buffalo's acquisition of Malcolm Subban from Chicago on Thursday.
- The Maple Leafs could have winger Ondrej Kase back in the lineup on Saturday, relays Postmedia’s Terry Koshan (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has missed the last week with an upper-body injury after providing Toronto with some decent depth scoring to start the season with five goals in 21 games. Meanwhile, winger Ilya Mikheyev took part in practice for the first time on Friday, but Koshan notes that while he is with the Maple Leafs on their two-game road trip, he won’t play. Regardless, he’s getting close to returning after suffering a broken thumb in the preseason.
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