Speculation: Gostisbehere - Too early to freak out?

[phillydownsouth]

What in the world is going on? Was looking for a bounce back season and has look brutal so far.

Could it be his confidence or have teams simply figured out his one sided game? Rushing it full speed down the middle is pretty easy to defend.

Click to read more...

 

[bennysflyers16]

Way too early. There isn’t a D man on this roster that can look good with Haag

 

[Deadpool8812]

Too early, but pairing him with Hagg is not a good thing for him

 

[dats81]

Well, he has looked great alongside Braun in preseason.
But Braun and Niskanen were moved to other pairings, Myers was demoted... Ghost gets to play with whoever remains on the roster. Not much of a difference between Hak and AV.

 

[phillydownsouth]

Who was his primary partner last year? Last year was pretty bumpy for him as well

 

[phillydownsouth]

Looks like he mostly played with provy which you'd think would make him play a little better.

 

[Deadpool8812]

Looks like he mostly played with provy which you'd think would make him play a little better.

View attachment 265101

No, he played mostly with Provorov 2 years ago

 

[Striiker]

Is this serious?

He has one bad period...

And maybe they should stop sabotaging him if they want him to produce. Playing with Hagg, 4th liners, and a sabotaged PP unit isn’t going to result in points for anyone. Meanwhile, his defense has been very good and his puck moving has been incredible. The guy is doing everything himself, since he’s getting zero help, and somehow has continued to relieve zone pressure and save that groups ass.

I have absolutely no clue how anyone can complain about his play, other than one period yesterday.

 

[phillydownsouth]

No, he played mostly with Provorov 2 years ago

That was the 18-19 season stats I pulled. Who was he with last year then?

 

[Ghosts Beer]

Stop with the excuses. Ghost’s problems are almost always self-inflicted. Like trying to skate through the defense in the neutral zone & turning it over, which he did on the PP last night (no Hagg) & then took a penalty. His other turnovers had nothing to do with Hagg.

He did this all last season no matter the D partner, fans just filtered it out. Now more are finally noticing but still trying to make excuses. Enough. He gets tunnel vision & forces stupid plays & turns it over, & that’s all on him.

 

[FlyTimmo]

I thought he has been playing well

 

[kudymen]

He is soooo gone, right

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Is this serious?

He has one bad period...

And maybe they should stop sabotaging him if they want him to produce. Playing with Hagg, 4th liners, and a sabotaged PP unit isn’t going to result in points for anyone. Meanwhile, his defense has been very good and his puck moving has been incredible. The guy is doing everything himself, since he’s getting zero help, and somehow has continued to relieve zone pressure and save that groups ass.

I have absolutely no clue how anyone can complain about his play, other than one period yesterday.

Coaches being dense? What else is new. Just like Gordon putting hagg and gudas together and throwing them out with our top line every chance he got.

 

[Striiker]

That was the 18-19 season stats I pulled. Who was he with last year then?

Last year at 5v5, 250:52 was with Provorov and he played 931:34 with others (like Folin, MacDonald, and Hagg).

 

[Qyburn]

Morganti and Bundy brutally eviscerated him for a full 45 seconds last night. It was the type of tone where you picture a 1910's schoolboy sitting with his hands in his lap and trying not to let the dam burst.

I guess the hate wagon must have all shut it off by then. Couldn't believe it didn't once get mentioned.

 

[Striiker]

Is this serious?

He has one bad period...

And maybe they should stop sabotaging him if they want him to produce. Playing with Hagg, 4th liners, and a sabotaged PP unit isn’t going to result in points for anyone. Meanwhile, his defense has been very good and his puck moving has been incredible. The guy is doing everything himself, since he’s getting zero help, and somehow has continued to relieve zone pressure and save that groups ass.

I have absolutely no clue how anyone can complain about his play, other than one period yesterday.

To illustrate this point, his most common teammates this year at 5v5:

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Almost positive he was one of our best players last night and the majority of the season.

 

[FLYguy3911]

More carryover from last year when he was a 3rd pair specialist of sorts. Except yesterday, he seemingly got punished (and the team did too when Provorov took his spot) for a poor first half of the game. It was weird. He was still getting regular shifts (albeit still 3rd pair in the pecking order) until the goalie got pulled.

Preseason mattered for a lot of things apparently, but Ghost's usage was not one of them.

So to answer the OP, I don't think you should worry about the talent. It's still there. I do worry about his standing on the team. And I did last year after Fletcher came on board. I do think it messes with his psyche a bit. He's a naturally confident player and in a lot of ways its a big reason why he has shown he can be a special player.

 

[phillydownsouth]

Almost positive he was one of our best players last night and the majority of the season.

thats not saying much considering how bad everyone played last night. The player he could be/should be, is not showing.

 

[Starat327]

Yes.

/thread

 

[dragonoffrost]

Almost positive he was one of our best players last night and the majority of the season.

Being one of the best last night is like winning the you hit the skunk with the partially working spray gland. It still stunk...

 

[landsbergfan]

We should start a new thread anytime someone does something dumb. Missed a great opportunity yesterday for a "Fletcher - Too early to freak out?" thread

 

[phillydownsouth]

We should start a new thread anytime someone does something dumb. Missed a great opportunity yesterday for a "Fletcher - Too early to freak out?" thread

18-19 Season Ghost already bleeding into 19-20 season. Fully warranted

 

[No ReGretzkys]

is he still 1st Unit PP??

 

[deadhead]

Ghost's great 2017-18 season is looking like an anomaly.
That is, you should probably see him as a 20-30 ES player who is no longer an elite PP QB, still solid, but not special.

The league seemed to have figured out he no longer has that great elusiveness after his hip injury and has adjusted how they play him.
Ghost sees more pressure and has less time to make decisions - we'll see if he has the instincts to compensate or if that will limit his career going forward - but he's no longer one of those waterbugs that strikes fear in the hearts of defenders with their quickness and agility.