Detroit — So how does a kid from South Florida grow into a hockey player?
For new Red Wings defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, it was basically hanging around a rink day and night.
“My grandfather is from Montreal so that helped, and he had season tickets to the (Florida) Panthers, so I went to every game and fell in love with the game,” Gostisbehere said during his introductory press conference with the Wings in July, after signing a one-year free agent contract worth $4.125 million. “My sister was a figure skater, so she was at the rink. My mom would give me a stick and I would run around the rink.
“I played baseball, for sure, but I was all hockey.”
It’s turned out to be a great move by Gostisbehere, 30, who has developed into one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL.
Still, there weren’t many interesting offers from teams when the free-agency bell rang. So, Gostisbehere looked through the offers he had and felt the Wings would give him the best opportunity to display his strengths and get a multi-year contract offer from the Wings, or somewhere else, in the future.
“When you sign a one-year deal, you’re betting on yourself,” Gostisbehere said. “You’re trusting that organization and that opportunity that’s given to you.
“I need to have the right opportunity to show what I can do, and I thought it was a great fit.”
Gostisbehere pointed to defenseman Olli Maatta, who was in a similar situation the previous summer and signed a one-year contract with the Wings. Maatta played so well, the Wings extended Maatta for two more years (at a $3 million annual average value), showing one-year deals can work out for both sides.
“Olli was in the same situation as me,” Gostisbehere said. “Fell out of favor somewhere, go somewhere else and resurrects his career and springboards that into a contract extension. That’s the dream of every NHL guy when he gets an opportunity somewhere.”
For Gostisbehere, playing in Arizona the last two seasons was a chance for him to re-establish himself on the NHL radar.
After three seasons of subpar performance in Philadelphia, the Flyers traded Gostisbehere to Arizona in July 2021. Gostisbehere regained his confidence and scored 82 points (24 goals, 58 assists) in 134 games with the Coyotes, before being dealt to Carolina at last season’s trade deadline.
In Arizona, Gostisbehere earned significant ice time and sparked the Coyotes’ power play and offensive attack.
“I had a few good years in Philly and then injuries really caught up with me,” Gostisbehere said. “It’s just a blend of falling out of favor there. Thankfully, I got a great opportunity in Arizona and I got to showcase that I could still play in this league and resurrect my career, and a chance in showing people that I’m still a good player. I’ll be forever thankful to the Coyotes organization.”
New Wings forward Christian Fischer, another free-agent acquisition from Arizona, had a close-up view of how Gostisbehere can be effective on the ice.
“He’s skilled, he’ll make those high-danger plays and nine out of 10 times, he’s getting the puck through,” Fischer said. “His IQ and how to read the play, he’s not the biggest guy, not the fastest, but defensively he knows. He thinks the game at such a top level. He can play against that top line every night because he knows their style.
“He’s back to being the Shane Gostisbehere that he was for 90% of his career.”
Steve Yzerman, the Wings’ general manager, talked often this offseason about the need to replace Filip Hronek (traded to Vancouver at the trade deadline), acquire a left-handed shooting defenseman, and improve the Wings’ power play. Gostisbehere checks off all three boxes, but it’s on the power play where he might be most dangerous.
“Gostisbehere can really shoot the puck,” Yzerman said. “He has been on good power plays. He can score from back there, so it gives the coaching staff another option and a left-shot option on the top. With Mo Seider and potentially Jake Walman playing a little bit on the power play and Shayne, on the back end it gives you different looks, righties and lefties.”
Gostisbehere isn’t shy about his using his shot.
“I’m blessed to have a pretty hard shot,” Gostisbehere said. “I try to get it off as quick as I can and get pucks through. My grandpa will text me after every game: ‘Only two shots? What’s going on?’ He wants me to shoot every puck I see.
“Volume of shots, the more you shoot, the more goals that are going to go in.”
The knock on Gostisbehere, even during his early success with the Flyers, was his struggles defensively. Gostisbehere is a career minus-59 in 538 NHL games, and was minus-29 in his time in Arizona.
“Offensive guys, they get a lot of flak for their defensive side,” Gostisbehere said. “It’s the first chirp, they’re (critics) going to say you can’t play defense. Any coach I’ve gone to for the first time, they say, ‘I’m surprised that your defensive game is pretty good’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, because I take pride in it.’
“I know my better abilities are on the offensive side, but I am a defenseman. I have to play defense first. For me, I try to prove that I am a two-way player and try to show it.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan