Flyers Sign Jamie Drysdale To Four-Year Contract

Philadelphia entered the week with its two key RFAs, forward Trevor Zegras and Drysdale, still unsigned. While it was reported that the team was confident agreements on extensions would be reached with each player before their respective arbitration dates, it was unclear whether that confidence would actually materialize in the form of new contracts.

Now, the Flyers have both players locked up through the end of the decade.

Drysdale, 24, becomes the Flyers’ highest-paid defenseman on an annualized basis as a result of this deal, surpassing Travis Sanheim‘s $6.25MM AAV. Although Drysdale is not the Flyers’ No. 1 defenseman (Sanheim is), the changing salary environment created by the rising upper limit has made Drysdale’s $6.5MM AAV more or less the market rate for what he’s been able to provide thus far in his career, with a reasonable amount of projection of future performance factored in as well.

The No. 7 overall pick of the 2020 draft, Drysdale arrived in Philadelphia as part of a stunning January 2024 trade that saw future star winger Cutter Gauthier shipped to Anaheim. The hope was Drysdale would fill a significant need in Philadelphia, namely as a lineup-topping puck-moving offensive defenseman. While Drysdale hasn’t filled that role perfectly in Philadelphia, he has developed steadily over the course of his Flyers tenure.

This past season, Drysdale set a career-high in terms of offensive production with 32 points in 78 games, a slight improvement over his 32-point 2021-22 campaign on a per-game basis. The 5’11”, 185-pound right-shot defenseman has been an imperfect fit as a No. 1 power play quarterback (he led all Flyers blueliners in power play time on ice per game last season) but has been able to capably transport the puck and produce offense at even strength.

Drysdale’s defensive game remains a work in progress, and he does not skate on the team’s penalty kill. But he has earned the trust of head coach Rick Tocchet, who utilized him as the team’s No. 3 defenseman last season. Drysdale averaged 21:33 time on ice per game, good for third on the team and the highest single-season time-on-ice per game mark of his career so far.

Even if Drysdale is unable to take a next step in his career and become a high-scoring power play quarterback, he’s still more than capable of having a long career as a top-four puck-moving defenseman. If he can further develop his offensive consistency even just slightly, he could stand a chance to provide the Flyers with real surplus value on his new $6.5MM cap hit.

From the Flyers’ perspective, this deal pays Drysdale at around the market rate for what he is now, and gives the team some real upside if he can develop. From Drysdale’s perspective, while this deal extends into his UFA years, it will expire when he’s 28 years old, meaning he could be very well positioned to cash in on the unrestricted free agent market in the summer of 2030 if he so chooses.