The Philadelphia Flyers currently have six defensive prospects that remain unsigned. The most promising among them is recent third round draft pick Shayne Gostisbehere.
“Ghost” is in the middle of his sophomore campaign as a defenseman for the Union College Dutchmen. He is following up his stellar freshman season with even better results to begin the 2012-13 season.
Through 13 games to date, he has scored 5 goals and earned 13 points. He is on pace for 15 goals and 40 points on the season, well beyond his 5 goals and 22 points as a freshman.
In last night’s game against the Princeton Tigers, the Dutchmen were down 4-2 entering the third period. Gostisbehere rallied the team with a goal and an assist to tie. His post-game interview can be found here, courtesy of Ken Schott of the Daily Gazette.
Union College is part of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC). Among all ECAC defensemen, Gostisbehere is currently ranked 1st in +/- (+12), 1st for points and 2nd place for goals in the Conference.
His talents have not gone unnoticed by USA Hockey either, as he is expected to be on the roster for Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa, Russia.
Looking at deeper comparisons, one of the top collegiate defensive prospects last year was Justin Schultz, who made headlines by signing with the Edmonton Oilers over the Anaheim Ducks (the team that drafted him).
Schultz finished with 22 points in his freshman year, just like Gostisbehere. He followed it with two 44+ point seasons before leaving after his junior year.
Schultz has a few inches in height on the 5’-11” Gostisbehere and is expected to be a top pairing defenseman for the Oilers once (or rather, if) the NHL returns to action. Gostisbehere may not be a top pairing defenseman yet, but there’s no reason at this point to have doubts he won’t be a top four defenseman in a few years.
Photo Credit: The photo for this post was taken from the Philadelphia Flyers web site.
