It was Jamie Drysdale’s first full year with the Philadelphia Flyers and, after an up-and-down stint while dealing with injury last season, the 2024-25 season should be viewed as nothing short of a success.
Of course, there were still hurdles for Drysdale to overcome, as he missed a month early in the season due to injury (though Drysdale’s comments upon returning made it sound as though he could’ve come back a bit sooner than that). The difference between pre-injury and post-injury Drysdale was stark, and we wrote about it in depth back in January. Before the injury, Drysdale was completely lost on the ice: over-leveraged and posting 40.89 CF% and 38.22 xGF%, which are abysmal numbers. In the weeks immediately upon returning, in slightly reduced ice time? A 53.95 CF% and 60.6 xGF%, all at 5-on-5. He was a different player and, by season’s end, he graded out largely positive.
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots on Goal | Shooting Percentage | Average Time On Ice |
| 70 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 22 | 63 | 11.1 | 19:55 |
Unfortunately, however, the points never materialized in a way they would need to for Drysdale to stick in a top-four NHL role. To be fair though, no one on the Flyers was scoring all that much. Drysdale’s 11.1 shooting percentage was the highest of his career, and it apparently translated to the golf course as well:
"Did you make it!?" 😲
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) May 29, 2025
AN ACE FOR THE FIRST SWING OF THE DAY!
Couldn't ask for a better start for @NHLFlyers' Jamie Drysdale from the RBC Canadian Open x @NHLPA Faceoff from @TPC_Toronto! pic.twitter.com/e66f0JDHn9
| Goals-For Percentage | Expected Goals-For Percentage | Corsi-For Percentage | High Danger Chances-For Percentage | PDO |
| 43.70 | 51.04 | 46.22 | 49.88 | .978 |
As we talked about earlier, Drysdale’s pre-injury numbers were atrocious, and absolutely impacted his season numbers overall. Despite that, he still finished with a positive expected Goals-for percentage that ranked third among Flyers defensemen with over 1,000 minutes of ice time. As we’ve mentioned in many of these player reviews, the Flyers were pretty good at controlling play; they just never scored, and that affected Drysdale in the same way. Plus, the team couldn’t buy a save, which is reflected in Drysdale’s poor PDO.
| Points Per 60 | Shots Per 60 | Shot Attempts Per 60 | Expected Goals Per 60 |
| 0.67 | 2.46 | 7.27 | 2.62 |
Something Drysdale will need to work on next year is shooting more; that 2.46 shots per 60 is his lowest rate since his rookie season. If he’s going to be an offensive defenseman, getting shots on net will be critical to his game. The good news is that Drysdale’s 2.62 xG/60 was second highest of all Flyers defenseman, bested only by Emil Andrae’s 2.73. The scoring potential for Drysdale is there–we just need to see it more.
Three Questions
Did he live up to expectations?
This is a tricky question to answer. The expectations for Drysdale are so sky high that he may be unable to reach them, and part of that is being the return for Cutter Gauthier. However, if we consider more realistic expectations (actual, concrete steps and not making a star turn overnight), then we can say that yes, Jamie Drysdale met expectations. It was his first full season with the team, and you could clearly see him improving in real time.
What can we expect from him next season?
If Brad Shaw were still in the organization, we’d say another step forward is a given. However, Shaw is not here anymore, and there is some concern over how the defense group–Drysdale, especially–will progress without him. Hopefully, Drysdale builds on the improvements he made this season, continues to develop defensively, and takes more risks in the offensive zone. There’s still a high ceiling player in there, if all goes according to plan.
How do we grade his 2024-25 season?
Drysdale had a good season; he didn’t regress, but he didn’t make a leap, either–just incremental improvements rounding out his overall game. For a player who’d missed so much critical development time with injury in previous seasons (including a dozen games this year), it was good to see Drysdale get back on the right track.
