Longtime Philadelphia Flyers winger Claude Giroux was dealt to the Florida Panthers at the NHL's trade deadline, officially ending an era with the franchise that drafted him back in 2007. The Flyers had spoken about how Giroux had earned the right to have a say in where he was traded. The 34-year-old broke his silence on the trade to the Panthers, via the Associated Press.

“When we were kind of out of the playoffs that’s when I started thinking, where could I go, what would be a good place, a good fit for me to go and play and win a Cup,” Giroux said. “I was just looking around the teams and there was something about Florida. Every time I was tuning into a game, I just liked the way they played. And so, for me, I just thought it’d be a perfect fit.”

Giroux spoke about how the Flyers, 20-31, were out of playoff contention. The veteran winger admitted to starting to think about places around the league where he'd be a good fit were he to be dealt at the NHL's trade deadline.

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The goal for Giroux, who has never hoisted the Stanley Cup trophy, was to go where he can compete for a championship. The Flyers veteran liked the way that the Panthers played and imagined that Florida would be a “perfect fit.”

The Panthers lead the NHL in goals scored and differential and can benefit from the veteran presence of Giroux, who has scored 42 points in 57 games played for Philadelphia this season. He'll now set his sights on winning that elusive Stanley Cup.