Shayne Gostisbehere
Gostisbehere is a third-pair left defenseman who runs the first power-play unit, so his value this season comes almost entirely from power-play time.
Role
Third pair at even strength with Juuso Valimaki on the right. This comes from the Nov. 1 projected lines, which Inside the Rink, Yahoo and Sportsbetting Dime all carried, and from ESPN's line page (about 8 days old). Behind Slavin-Chatfield and Miller-Walker. PP1 per ESPN and 5V5 Hockey (Oct. 29): Gostisbehere as the lone defenseman with Ehlers, Aho, Svechnikov and Blake. Beat writer Ryan Henkel's PP1 grouping, as relayed by GameDayTweets, matches. Mike Reilly was his partner in mid-October and is now listed among the roster's defensemen, but he is not in the Nov. 1 projected lineup. I could not fetch a current Daily Faceoff page, so I have no current ice-time figures for him. Last season he had 6 power-play points among his 11 points in 16 games.
He holds the PP1 quarterback spot on a power play that Sportsbetting Dime put at 22.6% as of Nov. 1. Last season's line (16 GP, 11 points, 6 of them on the power play) shows how much of his production comes from that unit. Nothing in the sources I read shows another defenseman threatening that job.
At even strength he is on the third pair, and last season's line shows only 28 shots, 8 hits and 10 blocks in 16 games. That leaves little production outside the power play. PP2 lists vary by source (Valimaki, Miller or Stankoven in different outlets), so the unit is not fully settled. If the top unit is reshuffled or Carolina draws fewer penalties, his output would drop.
Where analysts split
broad agreement
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at D
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