Flyers Address Fourth-Line Center Need with Noel Acciari, Reportedly Interested in Claude Giroux
Noel Acciari #55 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in action during the game against the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 5, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Flyers filled a dire fourth-line center need on the first day of free agency, signing Noel Acciari to a two-year contract worth $2.8 million annually through 2027-28.
Acciari, 34, spent the last three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, with his best offensive output being 13 goals, a career-high 12 assists, and a +14 rating in 67 games. He faced the Flyers in the first round of the playoffs this spring, picking up an assist in six games while winning 61% of his faceoffs in the series.
This signing addresses two massive holes the Flyers already had, and seemed only to make worse last week when they traded fourth-line winger Garnet Hathaway to Florida. Acciari brings a similar physical game while being more of an agitator, with far superior faceoff reliability and penalty-killing pedigree that the Flyers sorely needed last season.
He won 52% of his draws last season and ranked among the top of all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time at 2:35 per game, solid numbers that will make him an indispensable member of the penalty kill alongside captain Sean Couturier.
Acciari is a natural center who has logged heavy minutes at wing throughout his career, giving Rick Tocchet options on going with the hot hand while keeping him on the ice. Acciari’s career numbers won’t jump off the page at you, but his impact is not in filling up the stat sheet. He’s likely ticketed to replace Luke Glendening in the bottom six, giving the Flyers a right-handed shooter down the middle or on the wing, depending on what the situation determines that Tocchet needs.
Acciari does have a bit of recent history with his new locker room — he and Trevor Zegras tangled during a line brawl in the playoff series against the Penguins this past season, with Zegras knocking off Acciari’s helmet in the scrum. This is a small detail that stays on the ice and in the past. Acciari will fit right into a bottom-six role, giving the Flyers the physicality to offset losing Hathaway. Now they’re teammates instead of combatants.
While this move solidifies the bottom end of the lineup for the Flyers, they’re also reported to be one of the teams looking to sign Claude Giroux when he hit the open market Wednesday.
Giroux coming back would be one of the more meaningful reunions the Flyers could pull off this summer, not only from the nostalgia perspective, but also from a leadership perspective on the ice. He spent 15 seasons and 1,000 games in orange and black before a trade to Florida in March 2022 and he wore the “C” for a decade. He remains the Flyers’ all-time leader in power-play points, something that has drifted rudderless since his departure.
Giroux posted back-to-back seasons of 50 and 49 points in a depth role with Ottawa, and he won 63.1% of his faceoffs last season, tops among all eligible centers who’d be in the mix. Every one of the Flyers’ current top centers, Noah Cates, Couturier, Christian Dvorak and Zegras, shoots left, so a right-handed faceoff man with Giroux’s touch would elevate this reunion past more than just a feel-good return. He can bump the power play, eat tough minutes up and down the lineup, and give a young core a locker room presence it needs.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
Get New Articles Emailed Right To Your Inbox:
