Claude Giroux, Flyers agree to eight year, $66.2 million extension

Claude Giroux is either going to spend the next eight years in Philadelphia or he's one step closer to a lucrative buyout.

The star centre and the Philadelphia Flyers have finalized a massive, eight-year, $66.2 million extension, according to ESPN's Pierre Lebrun.

Clearly, the buyouts of Ilya Bryzgalov and Daniel Briere have in no way discouraged the Flyers from handing out insanely large, long contracts.

The cap hit on this gargantuan contract is $8.25 million, putting Giroux in the company of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Eric Staal, and Evgeni Malkin. Fortunately for the cap-strapped Flyers, it doesn't kick in until next year.

Is Giroux worth this kind of money?

Going off his 93-point season, a season in which Peter Laviolette called him the best player in hockey and he outplayed Sidney Crosby in a legendary series, sure. But that's Giroux's only season above a point per game. This is a lot of money to give to a guy -- not to mention power, as the deal comes with a full no-movement clause for its entirety -- on the basis on one good season.

I'm not trying to say Giroux isn't worth it. He's a star, on par with all the names in his cap bracket, and it's tough to measure anyone in Philadelphia by the lockout year. It was a strange one, and most believe it didn't represent Giroux at his best.

But even still, this is a dizzyingly immense deal, and while Giroux is undoubtedly the best player on the Flyers, it's going to take more than a point per game pace, and an improvement on last season, for him to justify it.

Granted, if it's a slight overpayment, it's not like the Flyers will mind. This organization is rich beyond their wildest dreams and appears to operate on a plane beyond the salary cap.

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