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There was plenty of debate in the aftermath of the Detroit Red Wings not retaining defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, whom they had signed to a one-year, $4.125 million contract.
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Gostisbehere, who has been an offensive-minded defenseman throughout his NHL career, fit in nicely on the Red Wings blue line and contributed 10 goals while adding 46 assists.
However, he departed in the summer of 2024, re-joining the Carolina Hurricanes with a three-year, $9.6 million deal, carrying a $3.2 million cap hit.
Gostisbehere, who helped the Hurricanes reach the Eastern Conference Final during his first stint with the club, helped them do the same last season, where they were defeated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
This season, as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, he’s helped them to come within one win of what would be their first Stanley Cup in 20 years.
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And so far through the first five games of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, Gostisbehere is the leading scorer on Carolina’s blue line with a goal and five assists for six points.
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Overall, he has 12 points in 18 postseason games so far this spring.
The reported hangup in the negotiations between the Red Wings and Gostisbehere in the summer of 2024 was the length of the contract, which Carolina was eventually able to offer him.
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Meanwhile, the Red Wings also decided to eventually part ways with defenseman Jake Walman in a controversial trade just days before Gostisbehere returned to Carolina for reasons which GM Steve Yzerman declined to elaborate on.
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Since the departure of both Walman and Gostisbehere, the Red Wings have iced the likes of Jeff Petry, Justin Holl, and Travis Hamonic on the blue line without much success.
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One thing is for certain – despite his defensive flaws, the Red Wings could certainly have made use of Gostisbehere’s offensive capabilities in each of the last two seasons, both of which have resulted in missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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