Continuing our preseason trip around the Carolina Hurricanes' roster, we're moving on to Shayne Gostisbehere. If Jaccob Slavin is the team's shutdown defenseman, Gostisbehere is his antithesis. While not completely inept on defense, it's clear that Gostisbehere's forte is his offensive game.
Gostisbehere was already familiar with the Hurricanes' system before signing his three-year deal last offseason. The Canes acquired him from the Coyotes at the 2023 trade deadline. He had 10 points in 23 games and just three assists in the playoffs before joining Detroit in 2023-24. This familiarity proved helpful in a year with serious turnover on defense for Carolina.
Last season: 7-38-45 in 70 games/3-6-9 in the playoffs
To begin his second tour with the Hurricanes, Gostisbehere came out of the gates firing. He opened the season with a four-game goal streak and recorded points in seven of the team's nine games in October, playing at a point-per-game pace. While tough to maintain as a defenseman, Gostisbehere was looking good through the end of 2024, scoring 27 points in 35 games.
An upper-body injury during the team's post-Christmas back-to-back with New Jersey sidelined Gostisbehere for eight games. Once he returned, his scoring slowed down. He managed just eight points over the next two months (1-7-8 in 23 games).
Gostisbehere bucked this trend with a two-assist game in Philadelphia, beginning a four-game point streak as the season wound down. Outside of a three-game absence in April, Gostisbehere recorded 10 assists over his final 12 contests. He finished the regular season as the defense's leader in points, fifth overall on the Hurricanes.
Once the playoffs began, Gostisbehere kept on scoring. He tied Game 2 against New Jersey with a big goal and assisted on both of Sebastian Aho's power-play goals in Game 5, including the primary assist on the series winner. He added two goals and an assist against the Capitals in the second round, and two helpers in the conference finals. He was fourth on the team when the playoffs ended.
Bold Prediction: Gostisbehere tops Burns' record for defenseman points
With Brent Burns leaving during free agency for Colorado, there's no question that Gostisbehere is the Hurricanes' most-proven offensive weapon on the blue line. Alexander Nikishin might get there soon, but, for now, that honor belongs to Gostisbehere.
Gostisbehere should start the season as the team's quarterback on the top power-play unit, a role he fit into well last season. With 27 points a man up, Gostisbehere was fourth among all NHL defenseman, trailing only Colorado's Cale Makar, Ottawa's Jake Sanderson, and Vancouver's Quinn Hughes.
With ample opportunities to play with the team's top scorers, he should be right in the thick of the scoring. He has shown an incredible scoring touch throughout his career, though it comes in waves. He's topped out at 65 points, which is four points better than Burns in 2022-23, when he set the top mark for Hurricanes defensemen since 1997-98.
Health and playing time could be major factors in preventing this from happening. Since he isn't playing top-pair minutes on a nightly basis, it could put a damper on his point production. Still, being the team's primary option on the power play could make up for that.
Regardless of how many points Gostisbehere puts up this season, this is a big chance for him to step up to the plate. He did a good job of stepping into Burns' skates last season as the team's primary offensive threat on the blue line. Now, he has a chance to take it a step further in Year 2. Steady production would be great, but there's a chance for him to be even better.