On Monday, November 8th, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had agreed to a contract extension with forward Claude Giroux. The new deal will run from the 2011-12 season to 2013-14 and pay Giroux $2.75M, $3.5M and $5M respectively over those three seasons. With a total value of $11.25M, Giroux?s cap hit will be a very manageable $3.75M. The 22-year-old is in his third NHL season, and looks to be on the brink of superstardom. After a modest sophomore season last year that saw him notch 16 goals, 31 assists and 47 points in 82 games, he was one of the deadliest players during the Flyers? run to the Stanley Cup Finals, posting 21 points in 23 games. His third season has started out as hot as the second one ended; as of Thursday morning the highly-skilled, slick-handed Giroux was leading Philadelphia in points (14), goals (7), power play goals (3), short handed goals (3 ? which also leads the NHL), and is a +2. And with the production beginning to match the promise, blogs and message boards are saying he may be the most exciting player to watch in Flyers history. In fact, former NHL forward and current national broadcaster Keith Jones said that Giroux?s play reminds him of Peter Forsberg. To any player, that is a big compliment, especially at a mere 22-years-old and with only 141 regular season games on your resume. So to have a player this skilled, this productive, this hyped, at a cap hit below $4M for the next three seasons has to be seen as a huge win for the Flyers and GM Paul Holmgren. If his production were to continue at its current pace for the remainder of the season, he would finish with 38 goals and 77 points. It?s not out of the realm of possibility to see him break 75 or 80 points this year, and then you would have to start thinking about 85-90 points for next year. Does he reach 100 points in a season by the third year of this deal? On top of getting high production at a lower cost, Philadelphia benefits by this being a three-year deal. Under the terms of the current CBA, players become unrestricted free agents when they are 27-years-old or after their seventh season. Giroux?s extension is set to expire after his sixth season, thus allowing Philadelphia to retain him as a restricted free agent and sign him to an additional contract or match any other club?s offer. While there will be a new CBA by the end of this deal, I would be surprised if this particular rule was changed much, if at all. The downside is if Giroux decides he wants out of Philadelphia for his prime years (for whatever reason that may come up in the future; I am not speculating, I just trying to see the deal from both ends of the scale), Holmgren does have the option at one more guaranteed season after this contract expires, but loses out on Giroux when his skills are at their peak. But at this point in time, there isn?t any reason to believe he would be interested in going elsewhere. Grade for Philadelphia: A As much as Philadelphia benefits from Giroux having one year of RFA eligibility at the end of this extension, Giroux too benefits. If his play does continue to improve at a rapid place and he crosses the threshold of becoming a top-10 forward in this league, he will have options. If Philadelphia doesn?t come to the table with what he deems to be a fair offer, he can sign a one-year tender and cash in during UFA the following year, much like Alexander Semin did last year in Washington. Or Giroux will be free to sign a longer contract after this expires, one that will pay him for his prime years, and based on his production at that point at the tender age of 25. The catch is that at that after this contract, Giroux will be getting paid based on his production, not his promise. After six seasons, he should have found his stride and the league should have an accurate picture of what his ceiling is as a player. So the pressure will be on him to reach the perceived potential the league is starting to see in him. So it?s a risky deal for Giroux, but one that gives him options after it expires. It also keeps him on a talented roster, in a city and on a team that doesn?t accept anything less than the playoffs, giving him a chance to win right now. Grade for Giroux: B+ Nick is RealGM?s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan