The Atlanta Thrashers, parent club of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, have signed unrestricted free-agent forward Alexandre Giroux to a multiple-year contract.
Giroux, 26, ranked second in the American Hockey League with 42 goals and added 28 assists for 70 points in 67 games with Hershey in 2006-07. He also led all league forwards with his plus-29 rating.
Giroux chipped in 11 points (4g, 7a) in 19 Calder Cup Playoff matches, including two overtime goals in the Bears’ division final series vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Giroux, who represented the Bears at the 2007 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic, also had two goals and two assists in nine NHL games with Washington last season, including his first NHL goal and assist on Mar. 16 vs. Toronto.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound native of Quebec City has improved his goal output in each of his six AHL seasons, scoring 11 times as a rookie and then 19 in 2002-03, 25 in 2003-04, 32 in 2004-05 and 36 in 2005-06 before setting yet another career high last season. Giroux has totaled 165 goals and 139 assists for 304 points in 430 career games with Hershey, Hartford, Binghamton and Grand Rapids. He has also appeared in 10 NHL contests with Washington and the New York Rangers.
Giroux was originally drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the seventh round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
