Does This Look Like The Face Of The NHL's Most Underrated Player?

So the Player’s Tribune posted a quick “fill in the blank” with Philadelphia Flyer’s star Claude Giroux. A few quick questions – some silly, some legitimate. Then I saw this:
Wow.
Maybe after answering the silly ‘NHL player who should be featured on the next season of “The Bachelor”’ question, Giroux decided to get silly with his answer for the next one. Maybe “underrated” is a relative term and he just meant Girardi is literally better than a cone. Maybe he doesn’t know what “underrated” means. Or maybe he meant it. After all, Girardi IS an underrated passer.

He’s fundamentally sound.

Teammates love him.

Giroux knows better than me for sure. I’m just a fan watching a player I thought had lost any semblance of foot speed, balance, puck handling skills & decision-making ability. A fan who may sometimes go the fancy stat route & see that the defender many label the worst in the league actually is the worst in the league. But all this time bitching and moaning about how Girardi’s contract has the cap-starved Blueshirts handcuffed because he stinks was ignorant. He doesn’t stink – he’s just underrated.

P.S. – Figured I’d throw in my two cents for mid-season awards.
Hart – Kane, and it’s not close. Already a prolific scorer, he’s knotted his career-high in goals in 29 less games & is on pace to have the best offensive season since Sid almost a decade ago.
Norris – I know people hate going with the points leader when it comes to blueliners, but if you’re gonna pick Kane for MVP then Karlsson makes just as much sense. Although nothing more than a mediocre defender, he IS Ottawa’s offense. At the rate he’s going he’s gonna close this season with the best numbers since Brian Leetch 20 years ago. Plenty of guys I’d take ahead of him to build my team but “best” and “most valuable” are two different things.
Vezina – Luongo. Guys like Holtby, Crow & Quick are all having outstanding seasons but they have it a little easier than Luongo does. Peripherals right up there with the league’s best without the luxury of firepower or winning experience in front of him to bail him out on a bad night. Corey Schneider is right there too among most valuable – with so little offense, he’s got the Devils 5 games over 500. If the Devils get him more than one goal he wins almost every time (22-1-3). I’m just giving the nod to Lou simply because they’re in first right now.
Calder – Panarin. In a year where everyone had their sights set on McDavid, Eichel, Domi, Larkin, etc. Artemi has come out of nowhere. Undrafted, signs out of the KHL with the Hawks & 5 months later scores on his first NHL shot against the best looking man on Earth. Hasn’t stopped since. Playing with Kane obviously helps, but based on the year Kane is having it’s certainly a 2-way relationship.
Most Surprising Player – Kuznetsov. I don’t think talent was ever the question, but this kid as put it together REAL quick & essentially become another Backstrom for the Caps. Most primaries in the league. Playmaker extraordinaire on a team with finishers like Ovi, Williams & Oshie. Lots of reasons for Washington’s success and he’s right at the top of the list.
Most Disappointing Player – Stamkos. Sure he’ll probably still net 30 but it’s a far cry from his usual spot among the top two goal scorers every year. Obviously free agency is weighing heavily on him, but about to turn 26 with the young talent around him & the taste of a Cup final fresh in his mouth is a surprising spot to hit the first bad patch of his career. Getzlaf & his 3 goals are up there too.
Most Surprising Team – Panthers. The parity in the East has helped them but they’ve taken more advantage than anyone else. As far as hockey players go, they’ve got a mix of senior citizens (Jagr, Luongo, Campbell, Mitchell) & babies (Ekblad, Barkov, Huberdeau, Trochek) that have meshed way better than anyone expected before the season started. Even if they regress down the stretch, they’re in good shape to earn a post-season invite and would be an unpredictable opponent to face in the first round.
Most Disappointing Team – There’s been a few disappointing first halves. The Bolts have been mediocre until a recent surge after their young team made it to the Cup finals. Same with Anaheim & both were preseason Cup favorites. Still, I’m saying it’s the Blue Jackets. The Jackets were the most unlucky team last year as far as injuries are concerned. I had zero doubt the combo of health & addition of Saad were going to have Columbus basically doing what the Panthers have done. Instead they started 0-7, fired their coach, traded their 23 year-old star center & enter the break as one of the worst teams in the league. They haven’t just “fallen short of expectations”, they’ve literally done the EXACT OPPOSITE.
Random Predictions – Boston wins Atlantic, get upset by wild card Panthers in first round. Stars fall into a wild card spot and get bounced easily. Oilers finish as one of the NHL’s worst, get the top pick AGAIN & add Auston Matthews to their stable of McDavid, Draisaitl, Yakupov, Nugent-Hopkins & Hall. Oh and the Rangers are still coming out of the East obviously. NY vs LA rematch for the greatest trophy in sports.