The Red Wings brought in Shayne Gostisbehere to provide their power play with a jolt. Gostisbehere has delivered his best season in more then half a decade

The Red Wings brought Shayne Gostisbehere to Detroit with a clear role in mind.

The Union College product joined the Red Wings on a one-year deal to fill a specific void: power play quarterback.  It was a position of need Steve Yzerman identified after last season and a specialty role Gostisbehre has occupied throughout stops with the Flyers, Coyotes, and most recently Hurricanes.

Detroit needed to score more, and improving the power play provided an obvious path to just that.  Adding a veteran power play quarterback would also lighten the load on Moritz Seider's shoulders on a nightly basis, freeing the German up to attend to his newfound match-up role.

In 49 games played, Gostisbehre has delivered on that promise.  He has seven goals and 25 assists for 32 points.  Two of those goals and 18 of those assists have come on the man advantage (62.5% of his overall points).  In some cases, you might cite that lofty percentage as evidence that Gostisbehere's impact is minimal, hinging as it does on special teams rather than his five-on-five play.  

However, in Gostisbehere's case, that is instead evidence that he has arrived as advertised to the fill the role into which he was cast.  With him in the fold, the Red Wings power play (presently converting at a 22.7% clip) has improved from 17th a year ago to 11th this season.  During the season's two apexes for Detroit, the power play has played a central role—converting at 32.4% during the Red Wings' hot start to the year in October and at 27.8% during the January run that pulled the team back into postseason contention.

And in fact, though he has earned his reputation as a power play specialist, Gostisbehere is in the midst of his most productive season since 2017-18.  This year, he has scoring at an 0.65 points-per-game pace; he hasn't eclipsed that since his age 24 season in Philadelphia, when he scored at an 0.83 goals-per-game pace.

And it's not just the boxcar stats that suggest Gostisbehere's significant impact.  Per Micah Blake McCurdy of HockeyViz.com, Gostisbehere has played 181 of the Red Wings' 295 power play minutes this season (roughly 61.4%).  With Gostisbehere on the ice, the Detroit power play creates 7.66 expected goals/60 minutes, five percent above league average.  Without him, the power play dips to creating just 7.17 xG/60, two percent below league average.

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For the Red Wings, the margins are slim, and, as McCurdy's work suggests, Gostisbehere represents the difference between mediocrity and commendability on the man advantage.  He encapsulates the sense that the team knew it could take meaningful strides up the Atlantic standings with the right veteran additions in the right roles.  Gostisbehere arrived to serve a purpose, and he's served that purpose with aplomb.

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