"Watching him today, I just started laughing a little bit with the plays he does," Giroux said early in training camp. "Guys try to go one-on-one against him and he makes it look pretty easy."
Provorov is only 21 and already has established himself as one of the NHL's top defensemen.
Last year, in his second season, he tied for the league lead among defensemen with 17 goals. He finished the season with 41 points and a plus-17 rating – and also played all 82 games for the second straight year.
Yet, the lasting impression of the usually stoic Provorov was of his tearfully talking about how he had let down the team as the Flyers were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-5, in Games 6 of the opening playoff round.