Red Wings Sign Defenseman Gostisbehere

The Detroit Red Wings announced the signing of defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to a one-year contract carrying a cap hit of $4,125,000 earlier today.

UPDATE: The #RedWings today signed defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to a one-year contract with an AAV of $4,125,000. pic.twitter.com/3M7NAguMcZ

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 2, 2023

This move makes sense for a veteran puck-moving defenseman looking to prove himself, though the cap hit might be a little high for the Red Wings.

Gostisbehere is coming off of a six-year deal where he carried a $4.5 million cap hit, signed by the Philadelphia Flyers, which saw him unceremoniously dumped to the Arizona Coyotes after four years.  He bounced back with the Coyotes, scoring 51 points in 82 games in 2021-22 and then 41 points in 75 games split between Arizona and the Carolina Hurricanes.

In Detroit, he’ll probably get time on the second power play unit, where he’ll have an opportunity to continue his rebound.

For someone who was much maligned over the course of his previous contract, it is a little weird to see this contract be so close to the AAV of the previous one when that was seemingly deemed such an overpayment.  However, the Red Wings have seemingly filled out their roster and still have over $9 million in salary cap space, so this shouldn’t prevent them from making any additional moves.