Claude Giroux set for 19th NHL season after deciding to return

claude giroux has decided to come back and play another NHL season, putting him on track for a 19th year in the league at 38. The Ottawa Senators winger’s choice keeps another one-year contract discussion alive after a 2025–26 deal that already paid him $2 million and carried $2.75 million in performance bonuses.

Giroux and Ottawa

The decision extends a run in Ottawa that has been unusually durable. Giroux has missed only one game in four years with the Senators, and he finished this season with 49 points. That kind of availability has mattered as Ottawa has gone through back-to-back first-round defeats in 2025 and 2026.

Steve Staios signed him to the one-year extension on June 29 last year, and Giroux earned $1 million of the individual bonuses attached to the deal. The structure fit a player who kept producing while staying in the lineup, and it now points back to the same short-term lane for the next contract.

Giroux on the locker room

After the season ended, Giroux was asked about his future and said, "Yeah. I think everybody (wants to keep playing)," He added, "But it's too early to even answer that question for me. I need to calm down a little bit, still a little fired up about the series. Sometimes you need to take a step back and give yourself a chance just to kind of chill and see what's next."

He also pointed to the group around him. "The guys in that locker room, I love spending time with those guys," Giroux said. "They make it fun coming to the rink, and they definitely keep me young, and being around them is... I feel very lucky."

Staios and the next deal

For Ottawa, the main consequence is simple: one of its most reliable forwards is not done yet, and all signs point to another one-year deal with the Senators. Giroux’s return leaves the club with a veteran winger who has kept scoring, stayed healthy and now appears ready to keep the conversation going for another season.