January 11, 2024
Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
Defenseman Jamie Drysdale during his Flyers debut Wednesday night against the Canadiens.
It's been an odd couple of days – a heavy couple of days – for the Philadelphia Flyers, their fans, and the organization's newest member Jamie Drysdale.
Cutter Gauthier, the now former top prospect, no longer had any interest in playing for the team, a revelation the Flyers' front office had known for months (save for why) but was a Band-Aid suddenly ripped off for everyone else Monday night when the trade with the Anaheim Ducks was announced without any prior warning – Drysdale included, who went from readying up for Anaheim's road trip one minute to saying his goodbyes then scrambling to the airport the next for an early morning flight.
It was unceremonious, jarring, and a moment that assuredly changed up the immediate course of the Flyers' rebuild.
Yet there was a peculiar excitement coming out of it.
Gauthier was out of the picture now. Forget him. But Drysdale was coming over as a recent high draft pick (sixth overall to the Ducks in 2020) and as an incredibly smooth-skating defenseman who, at just 21 years old, has so much still to learn and with all the makings of a top-pairing blueliner.
Head coach John Tortorella couldn't wait to have him in the building, to throw him right into the lineup, and to put him right on top of the power play. While Flyers fans, fully aware that their team had just been scorned by a piece of the future who didn't want to be there anymore, showed up to the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night ready to fully embrace the new one that did.
From the moment Drysdale left the tunnel for warmups, to when his name was announced alongside Travis Sanheim in the starting lineup, and to whenever he touched the puck against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night, the newest Flyer was cheered.
And from the opening faceoff of the 3-2 shootout win that these still surprising Flyers once again grinded out, Drysdale flashed the skill and the style of play that Philadelphia is hoping he'll bring for years to come.
"I mean I feel like you can't draw it up better, you know?" he said postgame. "Exciting game, great crowd, great fans, and came out with the win. So yeah, real good night."
Drysdale's introduction: pic.twitter.com/ZarN1V4isI
— Nick Tricome (@itssnick) January 11, 2024
In his debut, Drysdale was quick. In the skating, yes, but maybe more importantly in the decision making. If the puck was coming to him, he already had a teammate marked and a pass queued up to keep the flow going, and if he did keep it and skate, it was with a clear plan to open something up.
In the offensive zone, he walked the blue line and dictated possession from up top with a fluidity that hasn't been seen in a long time from a Flyers defenseman (maybe since prime Kimmo Timonen or rookie year Shayne Gostisbehere).
And away from the puck, he didn't seem all that reserved about getting physical. In the first period, with Montreal looking to break out, veteran winger Brendan Gallagher crept up into the neutral zone along the boards looking for an outlet pass, but as he moved to take in the puck, Drysdale shifted down to deliver a check that sent him to the ice.
Later in the period, with the Habs again looking to break out of their zone, Drysdale pinched down along the left-side boards to deliver another hit, this time on a much bigger Juraj Slafkovský, to knock the puck loose into open space.
What Drysdale is able to do in keeping the puck headed downhill, however, is what makes him stand out and what had Tortorella so eager to immediately get him out there on the power play.
In the second period, the chance finally arrived.
With the Flyers down 2-1 but pressing, Habs defenseman Jordan Harris sailed the puck over the glass and into the netting trying to clear for a delay of game.
The Flyers' power play unit, with Drysdale manning the point on this line, hopped over the boards.
With the puck cycling back around to him up top – and with Montreal's penalty kill set up in the box formation – Drysdale used his lateral movement to hold on to the puck, which dragged the nearest Habs forward, Jake Evans, to follow him more over center.
Morgan Frost circled out from around the boards, and with a lane opened up, Drysdale dumped the puck off for his new teammate, who took a stride forward with it, and after a quick move, placed a perfect shot that beat goaltender Cayden Primeau. Tie game, and to that point, a 1-for-1 success rate on the man advantage for a Flyers power play that had struggled mightily all season – they went on to finish the night 1-for-2.
The Jamie Drysdale effect – with all due credit to an amazing shot from Frost.
JAMIE DRYSDALE REGISTERS HIS 1ST POINT AS A FLYER ON THIS SWEET PPG BY MORGAN FROST ‼
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 11, 2024
Fly Guys tie this game up at ✌ pic.twitter.com/vSMmsmyVMQ
"He was up the ice – I want him to go more," Tortorella said postgame of Drysdale's Flyers debut. "He's a candidate to be like a rover. Not a defenseman, a rover, just because he’s on top of the ice the way he skates. So yeah, there were a couple of times where he was up the ice and we didn’t get him the puck. He was aggressive and we’re just going to stay on top of him as far as trying to push it, and push it and take a chance. I think he’s more than willing to do that."
As well as embrace a new city and team that, after one night and given the rather unique circumstances, has already fully embraced him.
"You hear Philly's a great sports city, hockey city, but you don't really know until you actually experience it," Drysdale said. "So definitely some nerves, excitement, but just happy we came out with the win. It was a pretty good debut."
"There’s a lot of stuff that came with him, as far as what happened, why the deal was made, all that stuff," Tortorella said. "He’s 21, gets up at five o'clock, four o'clock in the morning, flies here, having coaches bark at him about this, that, the other thing... He goes and plays a game and I thought he played really well. Living in a new place... He's got so much stuff going on. I was impressed with him, how he handled himself."
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