Claude Giroux on waiving his no-trade before the deadline.

The Philadelphia Flyers had Stanley Cup aspirations coming into this National Hockey League season, but after rattling off 7 consecutive losses those aspirations may have rapidly evaporated. In fact the only positive thing you might be able to say about the Flyers right now in the context of the Metropolitan Division is at least they aren't the New York Islanders, who have rattled off 9 straight losses.

Unsurprisingly this has led to trade speculation regarding the Flyers but what may come as a surprise to some is the fact that those talks have even included the mention of long time Flyers captain Claude Giroux. Giroux was asked about exactly that this week, specifically as it pertains to the likelihood of him agreeing to waive his trade proftection, but he quickly dismissed the notion.

"I'm not worried about that right now," Giroux said as per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I'm just worried about games coming up and we're in a hole right now. Thinking about that stuff is not going to help the team get out of this. Still got a lot of confidence in this group. I really believe we win one here, we might win a few in a row here. Confidence is a big part of it right now."

Giroux has been a lifelong member of the Flyers since being drafted in the 1st round (22nd overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, having played all 964 of the NHL games in his career with that franchise, but for perhaps the first time in his tenure with the Flyers there is serious chatter around whether or not he will even finish the season in a Flyers uniform. 

From the perspective of the Flyers it certainly makes sense, Giroux is on an expiring contract and is currently playing out the final year of his 8 year, $66.2 million deal. That the Flyers would want to move him should they be in line to miss the playoffs, which they clearly are at the moment, in order to net some kind of return is perfectly reasonable. After all Giroux could in theory walk away as a free agent at the end of the season, leaving the Flyers empty handed.

Giroux himself has failed to capture a Stanley Cup during his NHL career and could potentially be open to the idea of moving to a contending team at the deadline for a chance at the Cup at this stage of his career. Whether or not that matters more to him than spending his entire career as a member of the Flyers remains to be seen.

Regardless of how much the Flyers may want to make a deal for the better long term future of their team, and regardless of how fans or pundits feel about this situation, none of it will matter if Giroux refuses to waive his trade protection. For now he remains focused on winning the games in front of him.

"We know in our locker room that we can turn this around," said Giroux.

Currently sitting in the basement of the Metropolitan, with only the aforementioned Islanders beneath them in the standings, and with a -15 goal differential through their first 21 games of the season, it's hard to see how Giroux and company can achieve that goal. Especially fresh off of losing 7 in a row.