Speculation: Gostisbehere - Too early to freak out?

[VladDrag]

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.

I think it does. Didn't he discuss this in the preseason show...saying the rumors about being traded were distracting?

I'd agree that his confidence plays a huge part in abilities. When he's on his game, he's got a lot of flair. He makes extremely difficult plays seem easy.

 

[Striiker]

is he still 1st Unit PP??

Yup, but the unit has no chance because they randomly switched Giroux and Voraceks sides, which has ruined the unit. They also tried this last year and it was a disaster back then too.

But our coaches are awful so they refuse to change it back.

 

[dragonoffrost]

is he still 1st Unit PP??

he definitely ended the game in AV's dog house as during the empty net time he wasn't out there.

 

[Striiker]

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

If by that you mean "played well individually but got sabotaged points-wise" then yeah, that's exactly what's happening.

 

[renberg]

He is soooo gone, right

Being on the 3rd pair may have tweeked his ego. He needs to get used to that. With Niskanen, Braun, Sanheim, and Provorov on this roster as well as others, he’s going to be on the 3rd pair. If he doesn’t like that, he needs to ask for a trade.
He may have lost some quickness and agility due to the hip problem but it’s not that much. He needs to learn to make better use of his teammates. He’s trying to do it all by himself which rarely works out well. On many other clubs he’d have a bigger role. A trade might be the best for both him and the Flyers. There’s no reason to sell him off cheaply. He has skills and his contract is not an onerous one.

 

[phillydownsouth]

If by that you mean "played well individually but got sabotaged points-wise" then yeah, that's exactly what's happening.

opposing players made him look like a peewee house player in our own zone last year. Made Amac look good

 

[Striiker]

opposing players made him look like a peewee house player in our own zone last year. Made Amac look good

Not sure if you're kidding or just incorrect.

 

[phillydownsouth]

Not sure if you're kidding or just incorrect.

or maybe we just have different opinions on what "good defensive play" looks like. To each his own

 

[FLYguy3911]

I think it does. Didn't he discuss this in the preseason show...saying the rumors about being traded were distracting?

Yeah I meant to include that. If he's admitting that the trade rumors are/were on his mind, you know he's not playing with a clear mind all of the time.

It's a lot easier to play when your Ivan Provorov. 6 year deal, $40 million deal in your back pocket. 22+ minutes every night. Never miss a shift. Always on the PP. Always on the PK. Never get benched for egregious turnovers leading to goals.

 

[TCTC]

He had a bad game, but most on the team had. That one giveaway in the D zone that almost led to a goal for Calgary was typical bad Ghost though.
He needs to be better, regardless of who he plays with.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

opposing players made him look like a peewee house player in our own zone last year. Made Amac look good

Let's not forget mike yeo is in charge of our defense and playet laughed in his face when he was leaving st.louis.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Being on the 3rd pair may have tweeked his ego. He needs to get used to that. With Niskanen, Braun, Sanheim, and Provorov on this roster as well as others, he’s going to be on the 3rd pair. If he doesn’t like that, he needs to ask for a trade.

Yeah. Sick advice.

 

[Striiker]

"Yeah, just get used to playing behind inferior players, while playing with absolute trash."

 

[dragonoffrost]

or maybe we just have different opinions on what "good defensive play" looks like. To each his own

Points BABY

 

[Curufinwe]

Yeah I meant to include that. If he's admitting that the trade rumors are/were on his mind, you know he's not playing with a clear mind all of the time.

It's a lot easier to play when your Ivan Provorov. 6 year deal, $40 million deal in your back pocket. 22+ minutes every night. Never miss a shift. Always on the PP. Always on the PK. Never get benched for egregious turnovers leading to goals.

Ghost has a bigger deal than Sanheim, but I don't think contracts are why he had a bad game last night. It happens.

 

[Striiker]

or maybe we just have different opinions on what "good defensive play" looks like. To each his own

Mine is "preventing goals".

But yeah, obviously this isn't going anywhere.

 

[deadhead]

I wouldn't call Niskanen and Braun "inferior" to Ghost, they may not have his offensive chops, but they're bigger, more physical and a lot sounder defensively.
And Ghost is no longer a dominant offensive player, his skating is above average but no more, last couple years he's lost numerous "foot races" to faster players.

 

[Alex K]

If you consider him as a 3rd pair guy, you shouldn'd freak out at all, he looks way better than Hägg.
If you consider him as a 2nd pair guy, you should be ok with his performance.
If you consider him as a top pair guy you probably should be concerned so far but not too much.
If you consider him as a 1D, you're probably Striiker.

 

[Striiker]

If you consider him as a 3rd pair guy, you shouldn'd freak out at all, he looks way better than Hägg.
If you consider him as a 2nd pair guy, you should be ok with his performance.
If you consider him as a top pair guy you probably should be concerned so far but not too much.
If you consider him as a 1D, you're probably Striiker.

I just have a longer memory than most and realize that the only thing that's changed between 2017-2018 and now is usage.

Some players get punished when they do nothing wrong, some players get rewarded when they do nothing right. Ghost just happens to be the former.

It's especially funny (depressing) that he was our best player in preseason but immediately got screwed over before the first real game by the same guys who think that preseason should matter. Coaching is still a massive problem for us.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Ghost has a bigger deal than Sanheim, but I don't think contracts are why he had a bad game last night. It happens.

Who said contracts were the reason? I'm talking about security or the thought of it anyway. Fletcher didn't sign Ghost. The Flyers are paying more of a premium for Sanheim compared to Ghost if we're being picky. And we all know Sanheim took a bridge deal to bet on himself despite Fletcher's strong efforts to sign him to a long term deal.

 

[Tripod]

Where is the uproar over Braun's failed clearing attempt that directly led to a goal? I have seen more about Ghost's turnover on the PP than Braun's mistake.

I have no issue saying that turnover by Ghost was dumb...trying to skate thru 3 guys. I also said during the game that Ghost was on the bench when Frolik's helmet came off and landed on our bench...and Ghost reached down and handed it back to him and of course, Frolik scored on the shift. Talk about bad luck.

Last nights game for EVERYONE was awful. No one stood out as having a good game for me. As for Ghost, he is just not being put into a position to succeed. He is paired with Hagg who for some reason, has become the pinching Dman of the pairing. And speaking of that, for those who can't see it, Deadhead said it appeared as if that was a coaches directive, to have the bigger Dman go to the net and have Ghost stay back being the more mobile guy. Can't make this dumb shit up....but apparently he can.

The PP....we all know the issue. Not one player is in a 1-timer position and the puck is in Giroux's hands less than it ever was. I used to hate when EVERY scramble led to people ringing the puck around the boards to Giroux as teams knew what was happening. Right now, our players don't know what is happening. It's a jumbled mess. They are being told to do things that are not natural to them and it shows. No flow at all. Think how many goals Schenn scored from the slot. That is no longer an option as even with G on the right side, has 3 passing options to shooters...and NONE are for a 1-timer. It's just f***ing stupid. So for Ghost, his 1-time shot only comes from Jake who's decision making, well, no need to go there.

And as someone showed earlier, look who his most common linemates are at ES. Those guys are not scoring consistently regardless who their Dman is. He can't be blamed for that. Blame him for things he deserves, like the 1 vs 3 turnover on the PP. That's what you call "pressing". And that happens when things are not going right. And the PP has looked like a mess so it's not surprising. And Ghost is not alone in this. They seem to be missing Couts subtle passing to get clean zone entries.

 

[Starat327]

Ghost actually had a really good 18/19 as an all around defenseman. Im not sure why this keeps being brought up.

 

[Garbage Goal]

Ghost, not extremely dissimilar from most players who put up lots of points, relies on PP production to set himself apart and perform to expectations. Our PP has been continually trash for multiple coaches and years now. Previously, under a failed rookie HC and rookie Assistant and now under an Assistant with a long history of abject failure as an NHL coach. Doesn't help that our usually bad coaches refuse to trust him at ES or the PK, which limits his production a lot. Why are people surprised Ghost under-performs when our PP is bad and the coaches refuse to trust him outside of the PP?

 

[bennysflyers16]

Where is the uproar over Braun's failed clearing attempt that directly led to a goal? I have seen more about Ghost's turnover on the PP than Braun's mistake.

I have no issue saying that turnover by Ghost was dumb...trying to skate thru 3 guys. I also said during the game that Ghost was on the bench when Frolik's helmet came off and landed on our bench...and Ghost reached down and handed it back to him and of course, Frolik scored on the shift. Talk about bad luck.

Last nights game for EVERYONE was awful. No one stood out as having a good game for me. As for Ghost, he is just not being put into a position to succeed. He is paired with Hagg who for some reason, has become the pinching Dman of the pairing. And speaking of that, for those who can't see it, Deadhead said it appeared as if that was a coaches directive, to have the bigger Dman go to the net and have Ghost stay back being the more mobile guy. Can't make this dumb **** up....but apparently he can.

The PP....we all know the issue. Not one player is in a 1-timer position and the puck is in Giroux's hands less than it ever was. I used to hate when EVERY scramble led to people ringing the puck around the boards to Giroux as teams knew what was happening. Right now, our players don't know what is happening. It's a jumbled mess. They are being told to do things that are not natural to them and it shows. No flow at all. Think how many goals Schenn scored from the slot. That is no longer an option as even with G on the right side, has 3 passing options to shooters...and NONE are for a 1-timer. It's just ****ing stupid. So for Ghost, his 1-time shot only comes from Jake who's decision making, well, no need to go there.

And as someone showed earlier, look who his most common linemates are at ES. Those guys are not scoring consistently regardless who their Dman is. He can't be blamed for that. Blame him for things he deserves, like the 1 vs 3 turnover on the PP. That's what you call "pressing". And that happens when things are not going right. And the PP has looked like a mess so it's not surprising. And Ghost is not alone in this. They seem to be missing Couts subtle passing to get clean zone entries.

I think everyone blamed Braun no ?

And Elliot, Nisky , Couts and TK looked good last night, everyone else was awful !!

And the PP you are bang on, G is barely touching the puck and Jake is now the QB, makes no sense,

 

[Provorov4Norris]

Gost is an electric player who's driven by confidence more than any player on their roster over the past few years. When he's good, he's great and when he's bad he's awful. I know many of this board have a love affair with him but he was terrible last year and hasn't been great this year. He's on the 3rd pairing for a reason...regardless of who he's paired with if he's good, he'll make his partner better...that's not happening.

I like Gost, love his talent when he's on and hope he can turn it around but if he doesn't improve he will be dealt and they'll move Myers into his spot.