Flyers place Jamie Drysdale on injured reserve

Drysdale was hurt in this past Tuesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. The incident occurred early in the second period. With the puck in the Ducks’ zone, Drysdale was skating back toward the blue line, where he was caught with a blindside hit from Ducks forward Ross Johnston, who was coming across the ice. The hit happened with the puck nowhere in sight.

Johnston was given a five-minute major penalty for interference and a game misconduct. Drysdale ended up not returning to the game, as he posted just one shot on goal in 5:56 of ice time. Philadelphia still went on to win the game, 5-2.

Per the league’s IR rules, Drysdale won’t be eligible to return to the lineup until next Wednesday, when the Flyers take on the Buffalo Sabres. It’s not clear the extent of Drysdale’s injuries.

Unfortunately, the Toronto native has had a laundry list of injuries over his career. He missed 12 games last season with an upper-body injury, with a shoulder injury kept him out of 16 games during the 2023-24 campaign. Earlier that season, before he was traded by the Ducks to Philly, Drysdale missed 29 games with a lower-body injury.

In the 41 games he’s played so far this year, the 23-year-old has scored three goals and 15 assists for 18 points. He has a plus/minus of +1 while averaging 21:12 of ice time. He was seemingly on a path to best his career-best season, offensively, which he set back in 2021-22 with Anaheim. That year, he posted four goals and 28 assists for 32 points.

The Flyers (22-12-8) sit third in the Metropolitan Division, five points back of the Carolina Hurricanes for first place.