Sign Gostisbehere Long Term?

[FLYguy3911]

He uses 87 flex. Same as last year. He was using a Warrior stick earlier in the year (contract I think) but switched back to the Bauer. I heard a lot of players aren't fans of the Warrior sticks fwiw.

It just seems like he doesn't get many chances to unleash his shot, at least in comparison to last year. Teams are taking away his space. I don't think it's a coincidence the team has the second ranked powerplay and 4 of the 5 guys on the 1st unit are among the top PP scorers in the league and he isn't one of them. I think they could get a little creative to get him some more shot opportunities but the PP is going good, so they aren't going to change it up.

 

[Curufinwe]

Also, his PP numbers are about the same as last year.

4.4 points/60 versus 4.78 last season.

 

[OriginJM]

Not entirely related to the contract, although I think now would be a good time to offer him something while his production is down, but I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with his shooting. His wrist shot seems about where it was last year but the slap shot is nothing like we've seen in previous seasons. I remember last year he had some serious problems with broken sticks and was shuffling through some sticks. I don't recall him breaking a single stick this year - could it be that he's using too stiff of a stick where he's just not getting the same snap behind the puck that he used to? That may be a stretch but I can't figure out what's wrong with his slap shot for the life of me. As good as the power play has been, I can't image how strong that first unit would be if his shot were anywhere near the weapon it was last season.

yeah his shot just seems way off this season. when he does get a chance to crank one, the release is slower and the puck almost always misses the net. his accuracy was insane, im dying for him to bring it back.

 

[StoneHands]

I think the problem with him on the PP is that he's really predictable and teams are learning how to defend him. He stands almost dead center of the ice and has his stick up waiting for a shot so when the puck comes to him it's really easy for defenders to get in a lane because of the angle he shoots from. He's been missing the net a lot because instead of just firing he's had to shoot for corners because otherwise his shots get blocked. Almost every time he doesn't shoot, it's a fake shot then he walks the line a bit and give it back to Giroux which give defenders a second or two to get out of their blocking lanes and back into the box. When he doesn't have his stick up waiting for a shot it's almost always a one-touch pass back to Giroux. I don't think he utilizes Voracek nearly enough. He's pretty predictable in my opinion. Obviously he's still producing and the PP is still great but teams are definitely learning how to play him more than last year.

 

[Rebels57]

I think the problem with him on the PP is that he's really predictable and teams are learning how to defend him. He stands almost dead center of the ice and has his stick up waiting for a shot so when the puck comes to him it's really easy for defenders to get in a lane because of the angle he shoots from. He's been missing the net a lot because instead of just firing he's had to shoot for corners because otherwise his shots get blocked. Almost every time he doesn't shoot, it's a fake shot then he walks the line a bit and give it back to Giroux which give defenders a second or two to get out of their blocking lanes and back into the box. When he doesn't have his stick up waiting for a shot it's almost always a one-touch pass back to Giroux. I don't think he utilizes Voracek nearly enough. He's pretty predictable in my opinion. Obviously he's still producing and the PP is still great but teams are definitely learning how to play him more than last year.

That's not really Ghosts fault. That's how the PP is coached to be set-up.

Part of the success the PP is having is absolutely attributed to the extra attention that the forwards have to pay to Ghost. That opens up space for Giroux-Schenn-Voracek across the middle.

 

[Appleyard]

Yeh, it had started to go slightly stagnant before Ghost despite working in pretty much same format since 2010-11... as teams realised that without Hartnell there for the uber-quick release (Schenn is good, but not as good) they could just key two guys in on Giroux and 'cheat' on him.

Now they cannot, as they cannot let Ghost walk into space between circles or towards the right boards. Which means there is the lane to Jake more often.

 

[Curufinwe]

And Jake is just blasting away and having a lot of success doing so . There was one PPG where he miss-hit his shot so badly it went into the slot instead of to the net, but it bounced off a defender and Schenn was able to bang it home from in front.

 

[Striiker]

When Ghost was out you could tell why he isn't shooting as much, because people were in his way and he doesn't want to shoot into their legs (looking at you Streit).

 

[Lindberg]

The flyers #1 PP is one of the best in the league if not the best. The flyers sit at #2 in the league with a poor 2nd unit. Why are people complaining about the #1 unit now that it is clicking again?

The book is out on Ghost. You simply can't give him a lot of room to work with. I don't think it is a coincidence at all that Voracek is #2 in shots in the league (or was).

 

[thelos]

The flyers #1 PP is one of the best in the league if not the best. The flyers sit at #2 in the league with a poor 2nd unit. Why are people complaining about the #1 unit now that it is clicking again?

The book is out on Ghost. You simply can't give him a lot of room to work with. I don't think it is a coincidence at all that Voracek is #2 in shots in the league (or was).

Schenn getting so many pp goals lately is a result of teams focusing on Ghost and G too.

 

[Magua]

He uses 87 flex. Same as last year. He was using a Warrior stick earlier in the year (contract I think) but switched back to the Bauer. I heard a lot of players aren't fans of the Warrior sticks fwiw.

Blasphemy! Warrior is great and a lot of pros are using them now.

Ghost used to use the CCM sticks, but then they all broke, he switched to Landeskog's Bauer Nexus sticks, and that's been his go-to since minus his flirtation with the Warrior Dynasty one. Ghost has had a brand crisis of conscience the last year haha. Was all CCM, then CCM-Bauer-Warrior, then went all Bauer for the World Cup and pre-season, then all Warrior, now Warrior-Bauer. Seems superstitious or something.

 

[Curufinwe]

The flyers #1 PP is one of the best in the league if not the best. The flyers sit at #2 in the league with a poor 2nd unit. Why are people complaining about the #1 unit now that it is clicking again?

Yeah, the 2nd unit can't score no matter who's on it.

 

[Appleyard]

Blasphemy! Warrior is great and a lot of pros are using them now.

Ghost used to use the CCM sticks, but then they all broke, he switched to Landeskog's Bauer Nexus sticks, and that's been his go-to since minus his flirtation with the Warrior Dynasty one. Ghost has had a brand crisis of conscience the last year haha. Was all CCM, then CCM-Bauer-Warrior, then went all Bauer for the World Cup and pre-season, then all Warrior, now Warrior-Bauer. Seems superstitious or something.

He should change to a Titan ASD. Those ******** don't break whatever you do with them.

I still have two from like the mid-late 90's... and I used to play on concrete with them all the time. Though the bottom of the blades could be now used as surgical implements they are so sharp.

I hit a lamp-post with one on the way home once and the stick was fine... it left a dint in the metal.

 

[StoneHands]

That's not really Ghosts fault. That's how the PP is coached to be set-up.

Part of the success the PP is having is absolutely attributed to the extra attention that the forwards have to pay to Ghost. That opens up space for Giroux-Schenn-Voracek across the middle.

I'm not really saying the positioning is his fault or that he's doing anything wrong. I was just kind of replying to someone saying they don't know what his problem has been. He's a very good PP player and I think his points will pick up but teams definitely know how to play him now to limit him a bit. Like you said, that doesn't necessarily means he hurts the PP, if anything it helps other players.

 

[deadhead]

As I pointed out in the game thread, Ghost has had a real drop off in his PP production after his first 40 games last year, 24 games to finish the year, the playoffs and this season, that's a 60 game stretch.

It's not that he's not scoring, he's just not scoring at the rate he was his first 40 games.
15-16 - first 40 games 12-22 34 / 6-10 18 ES
15-16 - last 24 games 5-7 12 / 3-5 8 ES
16-17 - first 30 games 4-12 16 / 3-4 7 ES

A 24 goal, 70 point pace (first 40 games prorated) is elite
A 13 goal, 42 point pace (next 54 games prorated) is solid for an offensive defenseman

I think maybe expectations were raised a little too high by his hot start, Now that he's come back to earth, he's only "good," not "great."
However, that does impact his worth on a long-term deal.

 

[FrozenSherbet]

Gostisbehere is kind of out of position on the Flyers power play. While he's more than capable of playing the center point role, he's a more natural fit in Voracek's spot. Ideally, Ghost would be used in a similar manner as Ovechkin.

I think you'll see a decent increase in production from Gostisbehere next year. His off-season surgery seemed to slow him down quite a bit at the start of the season. Even his edge work looked off, and that's one of his greatest assets.

 

[Striiker]

Deadheads gonna keep trying to pound this square peg into the round hole until eventually the corners chip away and he forces it to fit.

 

[Tripod]

Him having a "down year" or levelling out to what he will be, is only good for us when it comes to his contract.

If he had put up a 60 point year this year....much different than a 45 point one.

Klingberg 4.25
Rielly 5 million

Likely he is getting in between those numbers....which I gladly do long term. Hell, we paid guys like Grossmann 3.5, AMac 5, etc...Other guys to compare:

Brodin 4.16
Klefbom 4.16
Larsson 4.16
Vatanen 4.8

Sign him up for his prime years, then replace him when he becomes a UFA and wants the big money.

 

[Rebels57]

Gostisbehere is kind of out of position on the Flyers power play. While he's more than capable of playing the center point role, he's a more natural fit in Voracek's spot. Ideally, Ghost would be used in a similar manner as Ovechkin.

I think you'll see a decent increase in production from Gostisbehere next year. His off-season surgery seemed to slow him down quite a bit at the start of the season. Even his edge work looked off, and that's one of his greatest assets.

I agree with this. Ghost would be deadly in Jakes spot from a shooting perpective. I do wish they would try a few different set play to get him open though, but I can understand not wantng to fix what isnt broken.

 

[Magua]

I agree with this. Ghost would be deadly in Jakes spot from a shooting perpective. I do wish they would try a few different set play to get him open though, but I can understand not wantng to fix what isnt broken.

I agree, no need to tinker too much. But can't every once in awhile they run a designed play to get Ghost moving to the right? Surely that won't be a hinderance done sparingly. It might only help, even with the unit producing at a great clip. PP2 is more the focus of anything resembling change or plays though, as we're talking about in the other thread.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Yeah. It's hard to complain about the production but I sometimes wish Voracek and Ghost would rotate briefly to confuse the PK and try and open Ghost up for some one-timers on his off-side.

 

[Hiesenberg]

The other guys are doing what they are doing because teams are focusing on Ghost. If they start shading back down to cover the lower guys Ghost gets back open again.

 

[Tripod]

The other guys are doing what they are doing because teams are focusing on Ghost. If they start shading back down to cover the lower guys Ghost gets back open again.

Yup...they are pretty much playing things to make Schenn and Jake beat them. And lately, they are.

Jake with the shot/pass into the slot so Schenn can re-direct it has worked because goalies are expecting Jake to shoot now. And since it started to work, Schenn has been moving around more. It's almost like he didn't bother before because he knew Jake would shoot too.

Mixing it up has worked.