Philadelphia Flyers: What’d Be A Fair Return For Shayne Gostisbehere?

The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman’s name has been a part of trade speculation since the deadline back in February, so if he’s moved, what would be an acceptable return?

For whatever reason, Shayne Gostisbehere’s name just can’t get away from trade rumors. Elliotte Friedman threw his name out there on his podcast back on April 18th, and Gostisbehere now finds himself fifth on The Fourth Period’s Top-30 Trade Watch List. All of this is purely speculation but with the talk swirling, what would be a plausible package to make the Philadelphia Flyers part ways with the offensive blue-liner?

First and foremost, I do not want General Manager Chuck Fletcher to move Ghost. Not one defenseman currently on the Flyers roster can put up the number Gostisbehere can on offense and parting ways with him would only make the team weaker, especially when considering Fletcher wants to add another vet to the defensive core. He had a down year, I get that, but he’s shown the ability to bounce back and has provided no reason to think that he won’t.

Now, with that out of the way, let’s take a glance at what the Flyers need to obtain this offseason. They need a second centerman, third line right-wing, backup goaltender, and a previously mentioned veteran d-man. Only one of these positions would be worthy of dealing Ghost Bear for, and that’s at 2C.

The Flyers have lacked depth at the center position for some time now and have to find somebody to take some of the weight off of Sean Couturier. Yes, I’m aware that Nolan Patrick is on the roster and still think he’ll end up being an effective Top-6 centerman down the road, but he needs to build his confidence. Playing against opposing third lines would do just that as he has the skill to dominate Top-9 or Bottom-6 talent.

One-for-one trades with this amount of talent hardly happen in today’s NHL, but there are exceptions like the Seth Jones and Ryan Johansen deal back in 2016 and the P.K. Subban and Shea Weber trade in the same year. The Jones-Johansen swap caters more towards the Flyers in this case, which both teams have reaped the benefits of. A deal of this nature would help cushion the loss of Gostisbehere for the Flyers, even though Fletcher would still have to find a worthy replacement for him on the blue-line.

Again, I don’t want to see Ghost leave this team. You don’t trade a guy who’s put up 60 and near-50 point seasons as a defenseman in the first four full years of his career unless the value is there, and right now, I don’t see equal worth on the block around the league.