PHILADELPHIA — The routine was monotonous. It was also rather effective.
After recovering from core surgery in late April to fix a sports hernia, defenseman Jamie Drysdale trekked to the Flyers’ training facility nearly every day this summer. He would arrive around 7:30 a.m. and immediately start working on mobility and soft tissue exercises, “just getting the body right.” That was typically followed by an hour or so on the ice, and then lifting and strength training in the gym. Finally, there was the cool down.
“That’s why I obviously stayed here the entire offseason,” Drysdale said early in training camp. “Taught me a little bit more about how to take care of my body, really dial in on it. I don’t want to feel like I did the last few years.”
Last year, especially.
Drysdale originally got hurt two games into last season while still with Anaheim, and never fully recovered despite two months on the shelf immediately after it happened. His skating — so smooth, so explosive when he’s at his best — suffered. Subsequently, so did his game, even if there were some flashes of his high skill level after he arrived in Philadelphia.
“It’s not great knowing you can’t do what you want to do, and know you can do,” Drysdale said.
Now, though, from a physical perspective, it appears that all of that hard work this summer is benefiting Drysdale. He’s been noticeably more mobile compared to when he first arrived in a blockbuster trade last Jan. 8 when he still wasn’t quite right, and never was, particularly after he was trucked by Pittsburgh’s Jansen Harkins in a game on Feb. 25, sidelining him for another month.
The Flyers as a team were generally sloppy on Saturday night in their 3-0 loss to Vancouver in their home opener. It was a disjointed performance from nearly start to finish, other than some pressure from the Flyers when they were already down by three. They’ve now dropped four straight (0-3-1) and still haven’t won a game in regulation or overtime. Their only win came in a shootout.
Even so, Drysdale flashed his skating ability on a few different occasions. On a first-period power play, he sidestepped Teddy Blueger to open up a shooting lane for a wrister on net. Later in the first, on another power play, he twirled around the top of the circle before handing the puck off to Matvei Michkov, whose shot was stopped by Kevin Lankinen. Late in the second, Drysdale created more room for himself by evading a couple of defenders and finding Owen Tippett in the slot for a prime opportunity.
So, that’s all positive.
It’s less positive for him in other areas. The stats at five-on-five for Drysdale, in particular, aren’t pretty.
He’s been on the ice for six goals against and none for. His expected goals percentage of 39.3, per Natural Stat Trick, is the third lowest on the team, despite starting 30 shifts in the offensive zone and 18 in the defensive zone.
While he wasn’t to blame for the Flyers’ first goal against on Saturday despite being on the ice — coach John Tortorella pinned that one primarily on Scott Laughton — Drysdale’s defensive miscues have cost them at other times.
One error on Thursday in Seattle was particularly glaring. Shortly after Drysdale brought the Flyers back to within 5-4 with a power-play goal with 7:28 left in regulation, they were pressing to tie it a couple of minutes later. Drysdale’s inadvisable pinch resulted in a rush the other way, though, and Oliver Bjorkstrand potted the dagger in the Kraken’s 6-4 triumph.
Back-to-back Bjorkstrand 🔄
Just like that, the Kraken regain their two goal lead! pic.twitter.com/twBWOwqPjg
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 18, 2024
After the game, Tortorella said: “I just hate to see the pinch by Jamie. Those are the things that Jamie has to understand. We don’t need to overextend ourselves there. … Young player has to learn that.”
Drysdale’s reasoning, he detailed before Saturday’s game, was that he figured the Kraken players on the ice were fatigued from defending and had “tired legs.”
In hindsight, though, it was an error in judgment. “It’s just one of those moments where you maybe just take the play, and live another day,” he said.
He admitted, too, that he has to make progress on being more instinctual.
“I think that’s just all part of learning,” he said. “The main thing that (Tortorella) keeps reinforcing and telling me is, make a decision and go with it. Don’t be in between.”
Complicating matters for Drysdale is that the guy who was likely to be his partner to start the season, Nick Seeler, remains out with a lower-body injury. There are still no indications as to when Seeler could make his season debut, although he’s still officially considered day to day. The shot-blocking specialist skated for more than a half hour on an off-day practice in Calgary earlier in the week, and took part in morning skates before games with the Oilers on Tuesday and Kraken on Thursday (the Flyers didn’t hold a morning skate on Saturday).
“Energy-wise, penalty kill — just the emotion on the bench,” Tortorella said of missing Seeler for the first five games. “He’s a really good player for us.”
That’s left Drysdale partnered mostly with veteran Erik Johnson, although on Saturday, pairs were shuffled up at one point and he spent some time alongside Egor Zamula, too.
Regarding his time with Drysdale this season, Johnson said: “I don’t think I’ve helped him out enough, honestly. Two (right-handed shots), not something that’s typically a pair, but for me I don’t think I’ve done a good enough job supporting him up and down the ice.”
Whether that’s simply a veteran player trying to take some of the heat off of a 22-year-old is up for interpretation. What isn’t is that Drysdale is a vital piece this season, and someone that will have to continue to improve if the Flyers are to hang around the playoff race.
Physically, he’s in prime shape. It’s the mental part of the game, and the decision-making, that’s been a bit off.
“Obviously, there’s been a handful of mistakes, tough reads. I think that’s just all part of learning, and just getting a feel for it,” Drysdale said. “You don’t want to overthink it too much. That’s something that’s creeped in a little bit.”
(Photo: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)
