Does Shayne Gostisbehere Have a Future With The Flyers?

Gostisbehere is a good player, but …..

I have been called a Ghost-hater, a statistical ignoramus, and a throw-back neanderthal hockey fan by his loving advanced metric crowd. There are probably grains of truth in each claim, but they are largely false.

I actually like Gostisbehere, there are many things that he does well, in fact, he does most things well which makes what my eyes and the box scores tell me all that much sadder. He is a sub-par defender when the puck is in his own end. There is no amount of shot differential that will make that fact less true. If you don’t believe me, you can hear it from his coaches.

Matchup based on heavier bottom lines, I have never heard that before. It is the admission that Gostisbehere struggles with bigger and stronger players if the puck is in his defensive zone. It has been plain to see over the last three years, and I think he has done just about everything in his power to overcome it, he just can’t.

Gostisbehere needs help. The advanced metric crowd is insistent that the Flyers have not found the right player for him to be paired with.  They are not wrong, but finding the right kind of player has been a lot harder than one would expect.  If he can’t play with Provorov, who is stand-alone great, or Matt Niskanen, who spent the last five years of his career playing Robin to someone else’s Batman, the team is running low on options.

In terms of statistical success, Gostisbehere did best when paired with Andrew MacDonald. MacDonald drew the ire of Flyers fans for his play, and the five-year contract he signed (finally off the books after this season). MacDonald was unique in many ways, especially so defensively, and it was a good fit for Gostisbehere.

MacDonald would force people wide, wait for them to get along the boards, and then corral the player and the puck. MacDonald was not trying to take the puck away. He would cede control of the puck, but while eliminating centering passes and obstructing a path to the net.  The opposing player was not facing enough overt pressure to pass the puck away but was also given little in the way of options that could lead to danger

MacDonald was trying to keep the puck in “time out” until the shift was over. If the puck was in “time out”, Gostisbehere did not have to try to take it from a player who was too strong for him. Strange to say it, but brilliant strategy by MacDonald.

While the “time out” strategy worked to some degree it is not the ideal way to build a defense. It is less viable when the core of the defense consists of Provorov, Sanheim, and Myers, all of whom still seem to be getting better and are already good enough not to play “time out”.  That core brings us right to the second monster, or should I say Kraken, in the room.

That is right, Seattle hockey is going to kidnap one of our players.  In my analysis, I see three targets for the Kraken.  They are Voracek, Van Riemsdyk upfront, and Gostisbehere as the odd man out on defense. Further, if Ghost is available, I think he is the most attractive asset and would be selected by Seattle.  Does it make much sense to find what is the equivalent of a specialty defender for a player who will be on the roster for a season, or less?  I think not.

With expansion looming, Yegor Zamula waiting in the wings, and Erik Gustafsson signed through this season I do not think that fixing Ghost is going to a problem the Flyers will have to face.  Finding a good home and getting great value for Gostisbehere will be.