Ghost with the most
Gostisbehere must bounce back if Flyers hope to make playoffs
Shayne Gostisbehere has had an interesting offseason.
The Flyers’ 26-year-old defenseman traveled to southwest France to visit his grandmother, made a pit stop in Greece, and spent some time in Walt Disney World and with his family in South Florida.
But he’s spent most of the summer working out at the team’s Voorhees training facility, trying to rebound from a subpar season.
“I’ve worked a lot on the mental side of my game,” the swift-skating Gostisbehere said after starring in an informal, 10-player scrimmage Tuesday at the Skate Zone. “Just being a good pro and really taking care of my body this summer. Just getting in there and putting in the work and having a good mindset and staying positive. Things aren’t always going to go my way out there, especially with the style of game I play.”
Instead of returning to Florida for the offseason, Gostisbehere has trained in the area the last few summers.
“I’ve got a girlfriend who is a nurse at CHOP,” he said, referring to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s not all about me. She takes a lot, so I’ve got to give a little, too.”
Gostisbehere is trying to bounce back from a 37-point season — a 28-point drop from the previous year — in which he had a minus-20 rating. He played about half the season with a knee injury, but he says he is now 100% healthy.
As Gostisbehere goes, so go the Flyers. At least that’s been the case in his four years with the team. They made the playoffs in his two strong seasons and missed them in his two down years.
The former Union College star burst into the NHL in 2015-16, scored 17 goals — a record for a Flyers rookie defenseman — in just 64 games and finished second in the rookie-of-the-year race to Artemi Panarin. He set an NHL rookie record for defensemen with a 15-game point streak, finished with a plus-8 rating, and sparked the Flyers into the playoffs.
The Ghost was the most. Gostisbehere slumped in his sophomore year (seven goals, minus- 21 rating), however, and the Flyers missed the playoffs. He regrouped the next year (13 goals, 65 points, plus-10) and helped the club reach postseason play.
Last season, he struggled, and the Flyers missed the playoffs. His name came up in offseason trade talks, but he remains a part of the Flyers’ plans and figures again to quarterback the power play.
“Obviously, it was a tough season for most of us,” Gostisbehere said. “I’ve bounced back before from a tough season. I think if we collectively as a team have a good season, the outcome will be there as individuals. I’m not too worried about the individual aspect of it. As a team, I think if we all do good, the rest will take care of itself … and we’ll be a playoff team for sure.”
General manager Chuck Fletcher revamped the defense in the offseason by adding right-handed veterans Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun, with a combined 209 playoff games on their resumes.
The other expected defensemen — Gostisbehere (12), Phil Myers (0), Ivan Provorov (6), and Travis Sanheim (4) — have combined to play in 22 playoff games.
Gostisbehere, mindful that Chicago and Ottawa were the only teams that allowed more goals than the Flyers (3.41 per game) last season, wasn’t surprised by the moves.
“It was cool to see Fletch make some moves,” he said. “For us, it’s a good team on paper. Now, it’s up to us and the coaches to get everyone on the same page.”
Gostisbehere added he was disappointed rugged defenseman Radko Gudas was dealt.
“When you’re 29th in the league and have a pretty bad season, and you were expected to have a pretty good one, you know some changes are going to be made,” he said.
Gostisbehere will probably be paired with Myers. They were together for most of Myers’ 21 Flyers games last season.
“He’s a good player. He’s hungry,” Gostisbehere said. “We play kind of a high-risk game, and for us, we have to have short-term memory when a mistake is made and keep our confidence.”
Training camp for veterans will start Sept. 13 in Voorhees. There will be a Flyers-Islanders rookie game Sept. 11 in Allentown.