The Detroit Red Wings should be looking at some of their moves from last summer and be smiling. Making the move to sign Shayne Gostisbehere was a smart move. He's settled in well and has been one of the team's better defenders within the team's defense core.
The Detroit Red Wings taking a flier on Gostisbehere on a one-year, $4.125 million contract this summer was a quality signing. It was viewed as a prove-it deal. It gave him a chance to prove that he could be a beneficial part of the Red Wings defense core and drive up his own trade value or prove that he could be kept around.
After all, Gostisbehere is 30 years old and likely could slot into the team middle-pairing and provide an upside on the power play for the Red Wings. The offensive defenseman profile shows with Gostisbehere, and he showed the fans that during the team's first half of the season.
Having Gostisbehere around has been great for Detroit and, frankly, takes some of the load away from Moritz Seider. The German defender has locked down the top-pairing role, and there's less of a need for him to produce offense. Even though he still does, Gostisbehere has been putting up points from the blue line, taking some pressure off Moritz Seider.
Shayne Gostisbehere has been great for the Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings have plugged Gostisbehere right in with this team, and he has found a way to help boost offensive production. He's manufacturing points from the blue line and producing at a higher level, something this team has not seen from their defense core in quite some time.
In his career in the NHL, spanning ten years (including 2023-24), getting above the 10-goal threshold five times and above 40 points in four seasons. This does not include this year, so that's 5-for-9 on 10+ goal seasons. He's on pace to likely reach that feat, both of them, once again in 2023-24.
This season, Gostisbehere has played in 49 games, missing just one game. He has scored seven goals and added 25 assists for 32 total points. He has two goals and 18 assists for 20 points on the power play. The offense is there, and he certainly has provided benefit offensively.
But his defense has been spotty at times. Sure, the Red Wings are scoring, but he's been on the ice for a lot of goals, which is problematic. He's got some things he could clean up in the defensive zone. But if he keeps adding in points, the defense can be excused, which seems oxymoronic on a team that can fall apart in the defensive zone on a whim.
He has not scored since before Christmas and has a litany of assists. So the points are still coming, but something has to change, and Gostisbehere needs to find ways to score once again. Whether it's power play chances or just scoring in 5-on-5 situations, Gostisbehere needs to show that scoring touch.
Gostisbehere gets a B+ in my book. He's been great and been a solid addition. The offense is there, but the 16-game goal drought concerns me. He has seven assists in that time frame, but the goals are less prevalent than they were early on in 2023-24 for the Red Wings.
On top of that, he's a minus-20, and it's a bit concerning that he's on the ice for that many goals against. The Red Wings need to expect him to iron some things out down the home stretch, but there's still a lot to like here overall. I wanted to give him an A, but an influx of offense in the second half might lead to a bumped grade.
After all, these are all subjective. Gostisbehere has been good, but his offense carries his profile, and the goals have dried up a bit compared to how things were out of the gates.