The vibes are incredibly high in Philadelphia, as the Flyers are just two points out of a playoff spot. The credit can be given to the young players who have stepped this season, especially during this stretch since the Olympic break. The likes of Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey, and Alex Bump have all contributed to the Flyers' success.
One young player that might flow under the radar, especially now that Porter Martone made his pro debut back on Thursday night, is defenseman Jamie Drysdale. Although not a Flyers draft pick, he is in his third season with the team and sixth overall, he's still only 23 years old. But this season, he has continued his development, and has thrived in a new role as a top four defenseman on the team.
The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn detailed 16 statistics from around the league, and one of them involved Drysdale. Luszczszyn says that based on his statistics, Drysdale is developing into a legitimate top four defenseman.
Statistics show that Jamie Drysdale in developing into Flyers' legitimate top defender
"While some young defenders show more defensive aptitude early, there are many who need time to develop and we’re starting to see the fruits of that labor with Drysdale. He did well in sheltered minutes through the first half of the season and was promoted to the top four in late January. He’s taken off ever since.
"Among regulars, Drysdale leads the Flyers’ defense with a 57 percent expected goals rate (xG rate), allowing just 2.07 expected goals per 60 minutes (xGA/60), an elite mark that has carried over on the scoreboard. His Defensive Rating this season: plus-1.1 in 71 games. This feels like a genuine breakthrough for the 23-year-old and that’s a big deal for Philadelphia’s future."
How can you not be hyped to read that?
The Flyers took a chance on Drysdale from the Anaheim Ducks, he was selected sixth overall in the 2020 draft and never quite panned out on the ice. All the Flyers gave up was Cutter Gauthier, one of the fanbase's greatest enemies for his desire to not sign with the team for still unknown reasons. The trade did work out in the long run. Sure, Gauthier is having a solid season with the Ducks out of his three total with the team, but the Flyers are seeing Drysdale develop into, quite possibly, their long term top defender.
This has been nothing short of a career resurgence for Drysdale. He received this promotion from Rick Tocchet and ran away with it. This season, he has a +1.1 Defensive Rating, which is drastically more than his -4.8 Defensive Rating from last season. Offensively, Drysdale is putting up his best numbers in his career. In 71 career games, Drysdale has a career-high eight goals, while putting up 22 assists in 21:35 of average ice time.
The timing could not have worked out better for the Flyers. Drysdale is a right-shot defenseman, who can be the long-term replacement for Rasmus Ristolainen. While the Flyers and general manager Danny Briere insist they weren't trading Ristolainen, he was the subject of reports and rumors. Let's not forget, Ristolainen has one year remaining on his contract before hitting free agency.
If Drysdale continues to keep up at his current pace or, possibly, exceed it, he could very well become part of Philadelphia's top right-shot defenseman for the foreseeable future.