Shayne Gostisbehere

Gostisbehere with the Adirondack Phantoms in 2014

Following his NCAA championship run, Gostisbehere signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Flyers on April 15, 2014, and was assigned to the Adirondack Phantoms, the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.[23] Gostisbehere joined the team for their final two games of the 2013–14 season, a 3–2 overtime loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on April 19, and a 2–1 loss to the Hershey Bears on April 20.[24]

Gostisbehere began the 2014–15 season with the Phantoms, but was recalled to the Flyers as a replacement for injured defensemen Braydon Coburn and Andrew MacDonald. Flyers general manager Ron Hextall intended for Gostisbehere’s call-up to be temporary as he searched for a veteran free agent to replace the injured skaters.[25] Gostisbehere made his NHL debut on October 25, 2014, pairing with Luke Schenn in a 4–2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.[26] He was moved back to the Phantoms on November 1, to make room on the 23-player active roster for the newly-healthy Vincent Lecavalier.[27] On November 7, in his second game back in the AHL, Gostisbehere took a check from Kevin Raine of the Manchester Monarchs and felt a “pop” in his knee, later diagnosed as an anterior cruciate ligament injury.[28] He did not play again that year, registering only five AHL and two NHL games in his first professional hockey season.[29]

That summer, Gostisbehere worked with Flyers athletic trainer Jim McCrossin, who focused on rehabilitating the skater’s entire body rather than focusing on the injured knee.[30] He impressed at training camp, scoring three goals in three preseason games, but an uneven defensive performance led head coach Dave Hakstol to send Gostisbehere to the Phantoms for the beginning of the 2015–16 season.[31] There, he recorded 10 points in 14 games before receiving another NHL call-up on November 14, 2015.[32] He scored his first NHL point that same day, assisting in Wayne Simmonds’ game-tying goal in an ultimate 3–2 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes.[33] His first goal came three days later, less than four minutes into a 3–2 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings.[34] His second and third NHL goals both came in overtime games, making Gostisbehere the first rookie in Flyers history to score multiple overtime goals in the same season.[35]

On February 13, 2016, Gostisbehere scored his 10th goal of the season in the third period of a 2–1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils. It was the 11th game in a row that he had registered a point, passing Barry Beck's 1978 record for the longest point streak of any rookie defenseman.[36] On February 20, Gostisbehere became the first rookie in NHL history to score four overtime goals in one season when he helped defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5–4.[37] His 15-game point streak ended after that game, as he failed to register a point in the Flyers' 3–1 loss to the Hurricanes. Gostisbehere's point run was the third-longest of any rookie since 1988, and was the longest of any defenseman since Chris Chelios scored points 15 games in a row for the Chicago Blackhawks in 1995.[38] Gostisbehere finished his rookie NHL season with 17 goals and 29 assists, and he became the youngest ever recipient of the Barry Ashbee Trophy, given to the Flyers' best defenseman. The Flyers also awarded Gostisbehere the Gene Hart Memorial Award, given to the player who demonstrates the most "heart".[39] He was also the runner-up for the 2016 Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the top rookie in the NHL. Artemi Panarin of the Blackhawks ultimately won the award.[40] Following the NHL Awards Show, Gostisbehere was officially named to the NHL All-Rookie Team for the 2015–16 season.[41]

Following a disappointing postseason performance at the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Flyers revealed that Gostisbehere had played through the end of the season with a right hip injury. He underwent surgery for the hip on May 17, 2016, with an expected recovery time of 10–12 weeks.[42] When he returned to the ice for the 2016–17 season, Gostisbehere fell into a sophomore slump, struggling both defensively and offensively. As he fought to play out of the slump, Gostisbehere was a healthy scratch three times, including in back-to-back games.[43] As the season went on, Gostisbehere deleted Twitter from his phone, as the positive fan reaction that he had received during his rookie season had turned negative.[44] He had returned to form by the end of the season, leading the Flyers defense for the second year in a row with 39 points in 76 games. In the final eight games of the season, he averaged one point per game, as well as a +3 plus–minus rating.[45] He attributed his early-season struggles to a mental block, rather than lingering pain from his hip injury, and attributed his improvement at the end of the year to an increased sense of confidence and decreased stress.[46]

On June 9, 2017, shortly before the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the Flyers signed Gostisbehere to a six-year, $27 million contract.[47] He began the 2017–18 season playing on the second defensive pair with Robert Hägg, only briefly teaming with Ivan Provorov on the top line. During a December 23 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, however, Hakstol rearranged the lines and paired Gostisbehere with Provorov once again. Impressed with the results, Hakstol kept the pair together through the end of the season.[48] Being paired with Provorov, a two-way player who Gostisbehere admitted was "years better than me defensively", helped him improve on the defensive end, putting up stronger shot suppression and defensive zone starts.[49] Gostisbehere also continued to generate offensively: on November 9, 2017, with an assist to Jakub Voráček in a 3–1 win against the Blackhawks, Gostisbehere became the fastest defenseman in Flyers history to score his 100th NHL point, doing so in 155 games. The previous record holder, Behn Wilson, did so in 163 games.[50] By the end of the year, Gostisbehere had put up 150 career points, the most of any Flyers defenseman in his first three seasons.[49] Gostisbehere scored 13 goals and 52 assists in the 2017–18 regular season, and was awarded his second Barry Ashbee Trophy in three years.[51]

Coming off of a successful 2017–18 season, Gostisbehere referred to the 2018–19 season as "the toughest season I've been through personally in my four years".[52] He dropped to 37 total points, nine goals and 28 assists, as well as a −20 plus-minus.[53] He admitted after the season that a knee surgery he had suffered during an October 22 game against the Colorado Avalanche had continued to bother him throughout the season, limiting his effectiveness on the ice.[54] That offseason, Gostisbehere spent time at the Flyers' training facility in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, focusing on improving the mental aspect of his performance.[55]

Gostisbehere's struggles continued into the 2019–20 season, culminating in a three-game benching in November. He had begun to improve, scoring 12 points in 40 games, before suffering an injury in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes on January 7, 2020. The injury required arthroscopic surgery, which took Gostisbehere out of the lineup for the remainder of January.[56] He told reporters that he knew, even before suffering an acute injury at Carolina, that he would have to address his ongoing knee pain at some point, and that the surgery gave him a chance to reset and play without pain.[57] His return to the club was muddled, however, and Alain Vigneault admitted that Gostisbehere likely would have benefitted from a rehab assignment with the Phantoms rather than returning immediately to NHL play.[58] Between Gostisbehere's injury and a series of healthy scratches, he appeared in only two of the Flyers' last 26 games before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend play in March.[59] During the NHL shutdown, Gostisbehere underwent a second surgery after realizing that his knee had not fully recovered from the first.[60] When the NHL resumed for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs in Toronto, Gostisbehere was one of 31 Flyers selected to play in the "bubble".[61] He played in the first two games of the Flyers' opening series against the Montreal Canadiens, and started in the Game 6 lineup in place of Matt Niskanen, who had received a one-game suspension. The Flyers, buoyed by a strong defense, captured the series and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals.[62] There, the Flyers were defeated in seven games by the New York Islanders.[63]

Prior to the 2020–21 season, Gostisbehere contracted COVID-19, forcing him to miss the first six games of the shortened season.[64] After a slow start as he regained his offensive ability, Gostisbehere looked to be returning to form, scoring five goals in 10 games between late February and early March.[65] On March 30, 2021, however, the Flyers unexpectedly placed Gostisbehere on waivers, to add more "flexibility" to their 23-man roster. He cleared the process and was placed on the Flyers' taxi squad.[66] Gostisbehere suffered another knee injury, a mild ACL sprain, on April 15, which took him out of the lineup for a week. On May 5, in another match against the Penguins, Gostisbehere received a two-game suspension for a hit to former teammate Mark Friedman. The suspension, the first of Gostisbehere's career, proved controversial, as the day before, Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals had not been suspended for a high-profile hit on Artemi Panarin.[67] Despite these setbacks, Gostisbehere pushed through to score nine points in his final 16 games of the season. Altogether, he put up nine goals and 11 assists in 41 games of the 2021 season.[65]

On July 22, 2021, the Flyers traded Gostisbehere to the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes also received two 2022 NHL Entry Draft selections from the Flyers.[68] The trade was criticized by Flyers fans, who questioned why the Flyers did not receive anything in exchange for Gostisbehere and the draft picks. General manager Chuck Fletcher explained that Philadelphia had been hindered by the strict salary cap that the NHL had instituted for the 2021–22 season, and that the size of Gostisbehere's contract had made it difficult to retain him.[69]

Although Gostisbehere was immediately productive in Arizona, with 11 of his team's 48 points through the first 13 games of the 2021–22 season, the Coyotes were not as successful, going 1–11–1 in that same time frame.[70] Despite the team's poor record, Gostisbehere was happy with the trade, saying that coming to Arizona was "a little bit of a reset for my career" and "a good blend for myself and my family".[71]

Nearing the NHL trade deadline, Gostisbehere was traded from the Arizona Coyotes on March 1, 2023, to the Carolina Hurricanes for a third-round pick in 2026.[72]

Having concluded his contract with the Hurricanes, Gostisbehere left as a free agent and was signed at the opening of free agency to a one-year, $4.125 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings on July 1, 2023.[73]