If the Philadelphia Flyers lose Shayne Gostisbehere, it’s their own fault
If you would have told fans that the Philadelphia Flyers would eventually be waiving Shayne Gostisbehere right before the NHL trade deadline to maintain “roster flexibility” at any point between 2015-2018, they’d have surely called you crazy.
If you would have told fans that the Philadelphia Flyers would eventually be waiving Shayne Gostisbehere right before the NHL trade deadline to maintain “roster flexibility” in the middle of the 2019-20 season, they’d have likely said good riddance.
But now, midway through a COVID-shortened/altered 2020-21 NHL season, the opinions on Ghost’s waiving, a roster moved made official on March 30th, are a bit more varied. To some, Gostisbehere is a bust that never lived up to his early successes – or massive six-year, $27 million extension – while others still feel there’s promising hockey left in front of the Pembroke Pines, Florida native, who won’t officially turn 28 until 20 days into April.
Could that still happen in South Philly? Most definitely, but it’s not the Flyers’ choice anymore, as now any team with a need for a top-4 defenseman with cap room could swoop in and steal away his services for nothing.
And if that happens, the Philadelphia Flyers have no one to fault for it but themselves.
Why did the Philadelphia Flyers waive Shayne Gostisbehere now?
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As things presently stand, the Philadelphia Flyers aren’t serious championship challengers and may not even make the playoffs unless they seriously correct course in the back half of the 2020-21 NHL season.
Their offense hasn’t quite lived up to their 2019-20 form, their goaltender has been incredibly inconsistent when franchise netminder Carter Hart is between the pipes, and in the weirdest twist of all, their defense went from above average to one of the worst in the entire league, as evidenced by their 123 goals against, which ranks 29th overall among all NFL clubs.
Sidebar: Apparently, Matt Niskanen was the most important defender in the entire Metropolitan Division, as swapping him out for Erik Gustafsson has been borderline apocalyptic.
So naturally, when a team that finished second in the Metro suddenly finds themselves with a 17-13-4 record and stuck in the fifth spot in a brutally challenging, one-time-only East Division, no one should be safe from the ire of the front office, right? Only the team’s absolute cornerstone players should be considered untouchable, and any reasonable move that could right this aging ship before it crashes down into a rebuild should at least be considered – assuming, of course, that the team actually wants to win now, instead of preparing for a youth movement the likes of which we haven’t seen in some time.
Well, if that’s the case, why did the Flyers waive Ghost now?
I mean, think about it, Gostisbehere’s trade value isn’t particularly high. The Flyers likely couldn’t trade him outright for a very good package and would surely need to attach picks if they wanted to swap out his contract for a more immediate contributor like, say, New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri.
Considering the Flyers’ current situation, it’s hard to foresee the squad surrendering the assets required to get such a deal done, especially with other East Division teams like the Islanders being far more willing to surrender premium assets for win-now pieces.
So, if the Flyers weren’t going to be able to trade Ghost for much and still have almost two weeks to go before the trade deadline on April 12th, why release their left-handed defenseman now, in the middle of a slight offensive resurgence, when he could have been waived at any point moving forward to maintain the same flexibility?
A month and a half ago? Sure, I get the idea of addition by subtraction. Ghost only had three points in the first 10 games – two of which came in Game 10 – and wasn’t exactly a centerpiece of Alain Vigneault’s defensive unit, but in the month of March, things have been night and day. In 13 games of action, Gostisbehere recorded seven points – three goals and four assists – and looked like one of the Flyers’ lone defensemen not named Ivan Provorov or Travis Sanheim worthy of being given playing time long-term. What, did one good game from Samuel Morin really show the Flyers enough to cut bait on one of the team’s longest-tenured players?
Again, the timing of this decision is just… odd to me, especially when you consider Gostisbehere just called out himself and his teammates for their ‘unacceptable‘ play after an ugly loss to the New York Rangers.
Next. Samuel Morin is the type of player the Philadelphia Flyers were missing. dark
Could this all be for not? Could the Ghost slip through waivers unclaimed and revert back to the Taxi Squad? That’s entirely possible. But if a team like the Detroit Red Wings, the Boston Bruins, or even their division rival New Jersey Devils put a claim in on Shayne Gostisbehere and he recaptures some of his vintage form in a non-orange and black uniform, the Philadelphia Flyers have no one to fault for it but themselves.