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Shayne Gostisbehere is very good at hockey. This in and of itself isn't totally surprising.
What is surprising, though, is just how good he is. It's unreal to even recall he didn't make the Philadelphia Flyers initially, and started his season down in the AHL before he was recalled on Nov. 14, 2015. Since then, all he's done is turn heads as he's announced his presence: undeniably an NHL defenseman, to the extent that the Flyers had to move other players around in order to keep him on the team.
Because, well, he'd more than earned it.
Gostisbehere's 8th goal ties him with Joni Pitkanen (2003-04)and Murray Barron (1990-91) for most ever among Flyers' rookie defensemen.
— Adam Kimelman (@NHLAdamK) January 20, 2016
To be fair, three of those goals are the result of three-on-three overtime; also to be fair, he's the highest scoring defenseman in overtime, and that's league-wide. He has 17 points through 26 games: a 54 point per game pace over a full 82-game season.
That's not to say Gostisbehere, now, is a 50-point player, but... it's definitely not out of the question he reaches that level one day. All this from a third round draft pick who only played seven games last year due to injury.
It's this stunning level of success that caused The Hockey News to name him the most surprising success of this season thus far, and they're absolutely right. What's better than an unheralded player rising through the ranks so quickly? And this is just the beginning.