The Philadelphia Flyers are in transition. They are close to being a good team but a few things need to go right if that is going to happen.
We already know that losing Cutter Gauthier in a trade is something that had to happen but his elite skill will be missed. Even the people who hate him the most know that this isn't the way they want it to be.
Gauthier is a Duck now though and they need Jamie Drysdale, who they received in the trade, to stay healthy so he can show off how good he is.
Drysdale may never be a legit number one defenseman like Cale Makar, Miro Heiskanen, or Victory Hedman but he can be a high-end offensive defenseman who can make tons of plays.
If Drysdale's play reaches its NHL ceiling, we are talking about a player who can rack up a ton of points. He has the talent to be a top-five point-scoring defenseman.
The key for him is his health. He hasn't been very healthy a lot in the early stages of his career. He only played in 34 games during the 2023-24 season. He managed to play in 81 games in 2021-22 but that is the only year out of his four that he's played more than the 34 he played this season.
If Drysdale can be healthy for a whole season again, he will be able to take that next step as a good offensive producer at that position.
If Drysdale works out in the end, it won't matter how good Gauthier is on the Ducks. The Flyers just need to make sure that their guy that wants to be there is in a position to succeed.
With the other young members of the core all healthy and playing well, Drysdale should get lots of ice time with good players who make plays. 2024-25 is going to be a big year for everyone.