Hurricanes acquire dman Gostisbehere from Coyotes

We have a trade to announce. For the second time in the past two days, the Hurricanes have added to their group ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. As first reported by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Hurricanes are bolstering their blue line by adding Arizona’s Shayne Gostisbehere.

The Hurricanes won’t give up much to do this, and they won’t give up anything in the immediate future, as a 2026 third-round pick is headed back to Arizona to bring “Ghost Bear” to Raleigh.

This fulfills another item on Carolina’s pre-deadline shopping list, as the Hurricanes were reportedly looking for a left-shot defenseman who could run their second power-play unit.

The offensive-minded Gostisbehere is certainly that. He’s got 10 goals and 31 points this year, with three of those goals and 10 of those points coming on the power play.

Gostisbehere, who spent the first seven seasons of his career in Philadelphia before spending the last two in Arizona, boasts 84 goals and 301 points in 515 games played, with 135 career power-play points.

He adds another good shot to the Hurricanes’ roster, which now has three defensemen, one on each pairing, with double-digit goals (Brent Burns and Brady Skjei are the others).

Gostisbehere, in addition to the second power-play unit, likely slots into the left side of the Hurricanes’ third defensive pairing next to Jalen Chatfield, sliding Calvin de Haan into the seventh defenseman spot and further boosting the team’s depth.

Gostisbehere is in the final year of a seven-year contract with a $4.5-million cap hit; he’ll be a UFA this summer.

The official press release from the team follows:

RALEIGH, NC. - Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Carolina’s third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.

“Shayne is a smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman,” said Waddell. “We think his offensive skill set and veteran presence will help bolster our blueline.”

Gostisbehere, 29, has tallied 31 points (10g, 21a) in 52 NHL games with the Coyotes this season. The 5’11”, 180-pound defenseman has posted 301 points (84g, 217a) in 515 career NHL games with Arizona and Philadelphia. During his rookie season with the Flyers in 2015-16, Gostisbehere registered 46 points (17g, 29a) and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. He also finished second that season in voting for the Calder Trophy, presented annually to the league’s rookie of the year. Gostisbehere played three seasons of NCAA hockey at Union College from 2011-14, winning a National Championship in 2014. The Pembroke Pines, Fla., native won gold with the United States at the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship and skated for Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Gostisbehere was drafted by Philadelphia in the third round, 78th overall, of the 2012 NHL Draft.