TEMPE, Ariz. — To say Friday was strange for Shayne Gostisbehere was an understatement, but he managed to find his way down the breezeway outside Mullet Arena to the other side of the annex that houses the visitors locker room.
The inside and oddly the upstairs, where players shower and change, is identical to the Coyotes’ room, only flipped around.
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“The dressing room is like a mirror image, so I’m going to the wrong side every time,” Gostisbehere said Friday morning. “But, no, it’s been cool.”
Hours later, after slipping on a white Carolina Hurricanes road sweater for the first time, Gostisbehere oddly skated onto the ice of the pocket-sized building that was his home until two days earlier. As he skated with his new teammates for the first time, he turned around and saw his old, exchanging pleasantries and laughs with those who were left from a busy trade deadline for the Coyotes that included his own departure to a team that would soon pound his old one.
“It was a little weird,” he said after a 6-1 victory that included his first goal with the Canes. “I’m not going to lie … just being on the other side so quick. Just the other day I was on the other team, so (a) little weird.”
Shayne Gostisbehere is the 11th Canes/Whalers player and first since 2012 to debut against the team that traded him. He’s spent warmups exchanging laughs with former #coyotes teammates like Zack Kassian pic.twitter.com/t1RBOtsGrD
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 4, 2023
In mere minutes after doing line rushes with the Canes for the first time, Gostisbehere would become the 11th trade acquisition in franchise history to make his Hartford/Carolina debut against the team that traded him, according to NHL Stats. There have been only four such instances in Hurricanes history with the last being Bobby Sanguinetti after getting traded from the New York Rangers on March 13, 2012.
“Yeah, it’s definitely unique,” Gostisbehere said.
But, let’s be honest, too, he couldn’t be more thankful as the potential free agent in four months was thrown a lifeline by Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong. For a 2026 third-round pick, Gostisbehere was traded from the 28th-place team in the NHL to the Metropolitan Division leaders and a bona fide Stanley Cup contender stacked with talents like Sebastian Aho, Brent Burns, Jaccob Slavin, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov.
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“It’s an awesome opportunity,” Gostisbehere, 29, said. “A lot of guys don’t get these opportunities. Cliche, but basement to the penthouse. It’s definitely cool. I’m just here to get on the train and help this team win.”
He did just that during Carolina’s whipping of his undermanned former mates by playing steady on the back end alongside new partner Jalen Chatfield and contributing with one of Carolina’s three power-play goals. In fact, the goal came on his first power-play shift within moments.
“Good boost of confidence,” he said.
And this is precisely why Canes GM Don Waddell targeted “Ghost.”
The Canes are one terrific hockey team as evidenced by Burns’ four points, Aho and Necas’ three points and yet another outstanding performance by goalie Antti Raanta. But one area they have struggled with this season is on the power play. They entered the game ranked 23rd, and Waddell had been searching for a quarterback for the second unit.
“Burns, he does a good job for us on the one unit, but we just thought our power play needed that one more guy on the point,” Waddell said. “Quarterbacks are hard to find. There’s no perfect players. But we were in touch with Arizona for a long time about Shayne.”
The “NEW GUY” on the Carolina Hurricanes, Shayne Gostisbehere, chats with color analyst Tripp Tracy hours before making his debut against his old team, the Arizona Coyotes. (Michael Russo / The Athletic)Gostisbehere was sidelined in January by an upper-body injury, which stalled trade talks. When he returned Feb. 19, talks re-engaged and reached the point where a deal finally could be made.
Gostisbehere, acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in the summer of 2021, scored 24 goals and 82 points in 134 games for the Coyotes. He scored 14 goals and 37 assists in 82 games last season, his highest production since 2017-18. This season, he has 11 goals and 32 points in 53 games.
“It was a win-win for both sides,” Armstrong said of Gostisbehere and the Coyotes. “We took him on a bad contract and we didn’t really know how good he can be. Our coaching staff did an amazing job with him by just getting him refurbished, getting his new game in order. He was outstanding for us from the time he got here to the time he left. He helped us win some games and (had) a great effect on the young guys by his work ethic and professionalism.
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“Now he has a chance to go win a championship with Carolina, so we’re very proud of him.”
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) March 4, 2023
Gostisbehere spent the morning meeting his new teammates. He planned to apologize to defenseman Brady Skjei, who was a couple of stalls to his left, for dominating the 2014 national championship for Union against Skjei’s University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
“He put on a show,” Skjei said. “He was the best player on the ice. … We’re pumped to have him (here). He’s going to be a great add for us.”
Gostisbehere walked in the room and immediately felt the love from his new teammates.
“It’s a close-knit group,” Gostisbehere said. “Everyone is super nice. Everyone is coming up to me, introducing themselves and just making me feel comfortable.”
And he’s already hitting it off with coach Rod Brind’Amour.
“Everyone told me when I got traded here, ‘You’re going to love Rod,’” Gostisbehere said. “He’s been awesome to me. Helped me feel comfortable, get the systems down. Very unique system. I think it’s more the language and whatnot, but he’s been awesome and obviously you want to play for a coach like that.”
After the game, he said the terminology the Canes use is different than most teams he has been around.
“I’m asking questions after every shift,” he said, laughing.
But Brind’Amour couldn’t have been more impressed by the player who logged nearly 17 minutes, registered three shots and attempted another six.
“Tough situation,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s coming in playing on a new team and playing your old team. But he looked, like, really comfortable. He didn’t look like he was nervous or didn’t know what he was doing. You can obviously see he’s going to help us.”
Gostisbehere usually wears No. 14, but that number belonged to Justin Williams with the Hurricanes. So the defenseman opted to flip the numbers and go with 41, an ode to his father, Regis, a former professional jai alai player in Connecticut, Gainesville and Ocala, Fla., and eventually South Florida, where Gostisbehere was born and bred.
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“His nickname was the Wild Man,” Gostisbehere said. “He’s not too wild anymore.”
As odd as it was, Gostisbehere figured it would be a good thing to play his former team in his debut. He was right.
“I think it’s a blessing, eases a little bit, you’re a little familiar with who you’re playing against,” he said.
And in the end, he can’t wait to get more familiar with the new team he’s playing with. After the rout over his former team, it was remarkable how quiet the Canes were coming off the ice. There was no hooting and hollering, no loud noises coming from the locker room and barely even music blaring from inside.
It struck Gostisbehere just how much the Canes have bigger aspirations than just beating a makeshift Coyotes team.
“It’s business here. Strictly business,” Gostisbehere said. “You win the games you’re supposed to win. You win your games and it’s on to the next one.”
(Photo: Zac BonDurant / Getty Images)
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