Shayne Gostisbehere ready for a healthy season with the Flyers

After a long few years, Gostisbehere is ready to get back to the defensemen the Flyers once had.

It’s no secret that Shayne Gostisbehere has not been himself the last few season. The once highly touted rookie defensemen has slowly developed into one of inconsistent play and injury. The Flyers 2012 third-round pick is looking to return to his former self.

And he will be doing so as a healthy player for the first time in a long time. Numerous knee injuries have slowed Gostisbehere down over the years. It all stemmed from the ACL injury he suffered during the 2014-15 season. Years later, the knee continue to give him trouble as he has surgery to clean a few things up. He also had surgery on his other knee as well.

Now coming into Flyers camp healthy, Gostisbehere has a lot to prove. And this could be one of his last opportunities to do so. And he knows that. The rumors, while not the best to hear, were something that he didn’t shy away from.

But it looks like he knows what’s going to be expected of him moving forward. Gostisbehere and Vigneault reportedly had a talk before the start of camp. The two discussed where each stood as of now and cleared any air about the entire situation.

Whatever that same page is, we may never know. When healthy, Gostisbehere can break into this defensive core. It all depends on what the Flyers plan to do with their top pair. The expectation, or at least belief, is that Phil Myers will take over for Niskanen. One can imagine it would then be Travis Sanheim and newly-signed Erik Gustafsson.

That leaves Robert Hagg, Justin Braun, Gostisbehere, and possibly even Mark Friedman fighting for the last two spots. There has been no decision on if the Flyers will go with seven or eight defensemen. The addition of the taxi squad will certainly come into play.

So it will not be as simple as Gostisbehere saying that he is healthy. With no preseason games, his performance in camp is all the team will have to go on. So far, he has been paired with Myers and then Hagg. While Vigneault has admitted that he is messing around with pairings, Gostisbehere has been placed with NHL defensemen.

Surely that is some type of positive sign to take. The scrimmage at the end of the week will help everyone better gauge where Gostisbehere is and where they may be able to place him in the lineup. The salary cap freeze is almost certainly a big reason as to why he is still here.

Especially after the team signed Gustafsson, a defensemen that has a very similar playing style. Gostisbehere has a lot to fight for this upcoming season. His job is almost certainly on the line in Philadelphia.

If he can get anywhere close to the defensemen he was just a few seasons ago, then those trade rumors may just cease to exist.