Jamie Drysdale Is Poster Boy For What Modern Flyers Should Be

After three seasons with the team, perhaps nobody represents what a modern Philadelphia Flyers player should be better than Jamie Drysdale, who just re-upped with the Flyers on a new, well-deserved four-year contract.

Drysdale, 24, was traded to the Flyers by the Ducks in exchange for disgruntled prospect Cutter Gauthier and a 2025 second-round pick (Jack Murtagh) on Jan. 8, 2024, and at that time, the former No. 6 overall pick was trending towards bust territory for his lofty draft status.

Up to the trade, Drysdale had played just 24 games in 2020-21, 81 in 2021-22, when he scored a career-high 32 points, and then just eight in 2022-23 due to injury.

Then, the season of the trade, in 2023-24, Drysdale managed to play in just 10 games for the Ducks before joining the Flyers, missing most of October, all of November, and most of December with another injury.

Even after being acquired by the Flyers, the talented defenseman was sidelined all of March 2024 after being injured by a hit from Jansen Harkins in a game against Pittsburgh on Feb. 25, 2024.

So, heading into his first full season with the Flyers in 2024-25, Drysdale had lost a significant amount of development time for a young prospect his age, having played just 42 regular season games across his previous two seasons.

Drysdale responded with a mostly healthy season after an offseason full of strength training and work to improve his durability, appearing in 70 games for the Flyers and scoring 20 points in what was only his second full-ish NHL season.

The next thing the 2020 No. 6 pick needed to work on was his defending; Drysdale's -32 rating in 2024-25 was the seventh-worst in the entire NHL, ahead of only Steven Stamkos, Connor Bedard, Barclay Goodrow, Rasmus Andersson, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Mason Lohrei.

So, this past season, Drysdale put together his most complete campaign yet, playing in 78 games, scoring a career-high eight goals, matching his career-high 32 points, and posting a personal-best -3 rating over the course of a full season.

Drysdale's improvement defensively was rewarded with trust from Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet, too, as Drysdale's 21:33 of average ice time was nearly two full minutes greater than any of his previous averages over the course of a full season.

Since joining the Flyers, Drysdale has demonstrably improved each year, going from one of the worst defensemen in the NHL to a reliable second-pairing defender who can move the puck at a high level and contribute on the power play.

And considering Drysdale turned 24 only three months ago, there is reason to believe that his best is still yet to come.

But in a nutshell, this is everything the modern Flyers player should be.

Despite being a high draft pick with obvious talent, Drysdale didn't let his development just come to him. He spent extra time in the gym and around the team and actively attacked all of his weaknesses, one summer at a time.

And this is how the present-day Flyers are built.

Porter Martone, David Jiricek, Drysdale, Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier, Rasmus Ristolainen, Trevor Zegras, and Owen Tippett were all top-10 draft picks.

Drysdale followed in the footsteps of Couturier and Ristolainen, who had to rebuild their games to fit the modern NHL and become effective players again.

Zegras, after some down years in Anaheim, put himself back on the map with hard work and further attention to detail.

Going forward, Jiricek and Michkov, too, will have to follow in the footsteps of Drysdale to help take the Flyers to where they need to go.

Jiricek is less experienced than Drysdale was when he arrived in Philadelphia, and his growth will require similar patience as he works on his defense, too, as well as his average mobility. The offensive talent is already there.

Michkov, in spite of the unreasonable spotlight and a lack of trust from Tocchet, still finished with 51 points in his second NHL season.

He can reach another gear, like Drysdale, by adding another dimension to his skating, as well as, apparently, improving his conditioning in general. As for defense, well... you don't draft or pay Michkov to play defense, do you?

Drysdale is not the flashiest or most popular Flyers player, no. Those titles would sooner go to Zegras, Michkov, or Martone at this stage.

But it should be recognized that he is the epitome of what the organization in its current state stands for: talented, hard-working, loved in the locker room, and stands up for his teammates.

And on his current trajectory, there is no telling how good Drysdale will be by this time next year.