Jamie Drysdale finding his game since return to lineup

It was a rough start to the season for Jamie Drysdale. Almost every night he was getting buried by the opposition and failing to score at even strength and on the power play for a mediocre Philadelphia Flyers team. Then, at the worst possible time, he got injured and missed a month of action (though some reports say he could’ve returned earlier if necessary). Durability has been a concern for Drysdale for years now but, since returning to the lineup, he hasn’t been the same–in a good way! At this rate, he’ll be this year’s “tale of two seasons” poster child: pre- and post-injury Jamie Drysdale, because the difference in his play has been dramatic.

For this exercise, we’re going to look at all-situations points production and use Natural Stat Trick’s 5-on-5 data as a baseline, then go from there. To reflect the improvements in Drysdale’s game, we’ll split his season so far in two as well: from the season opener to his injury, and then his return through the Jan. 5 game against the Toronto Maple Leafs — that’s 15 games and 13 games, respectively so a solid split and sizeable samples.

Scoring

Unfortunately, the box scores for Drysdale are still underwhelming for a player touted as a power play quarterback and an offensively oriented defenseman. Blaming Drysdale for the Flyers’ power play woes is unfair, though, considering how abysmal those units are to begin with. Does Drysdale’s lackluster performance contribute to that lowly power play? Well, sure, but you could say that about any player on those special teams and still be correct. Still, you can see Drysdale finding a rhythm on the man advantage, and his secondary assist on this goal is a decent showcase, even if it is against the Sharks.

His scoring pace is a hair better now than it was before his injury, but that difference is so slight that it’s negligible; Drysdale had 10 points in 34 games last season, and he’s just about on pace for the same so far this season. In his 2021-22 season, Drysdale had 32 points over 81 games, and that’s the sort of pace we’re hoping for as a foundation for his first full season with Philadelphia: 12 of those points with Anaheim came on the man advantage, and Drysdale has four power play points this season. However, with how strong his underlying play has been at 5-on-5, we may soon see the points come from elsewhere.

Underlying stats

That is a staggering improvement in play; Drysdale was downright awful by the numbers for the first 15 games but has been very good to excellent since. The improvement was noticeable in Drysdale’s first game back against Utah, where he put up a 50.00 CF% and a 77.42 xGF%. Drysdale’s best game since returning, by those same stats, was the blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where Drysdale posted a 76.67 CF% and an 87.95 xGF%. The Flyers got waxed, but this season’s about seeing what young players are capable of, and Drysdale showed out.

Granted, he’s had some blips. When the Flyers hosted the Kings, Drysdale had a 39.53 CF% and a 34.48 xGF% at 5-on-5, though he played 22:43 all situations that night–his highest time on ice since returning from injury. These are to be expected as part of the development path, though, and building consistency will be a key part of Drysdale’s future success.

The most obvious factor contributing to Drysdale’s recent run of solid play is his deployment, and Nick Seeler’s a surprisingly strong partner for Drysdale–or at least, better than any other partner he’s logged significant minutes with, and Seeler/Drysdale have a 53.36 xGF% in 227:34 of 5-on-5 ice time. When Seeler was out of the lineup, Drysdale struggled; he spent most of his time with Travis Sanheim and, in 106:46 together, they only managed a 43.22 xGF%. However, that sag in play driving has a clear cause: Travis Sanheim is the team’s best defenseman and, as a result, has tougher matchups. The eye test would tell anyone that Drysdale isn’t prepared for that kind of responsibility yet.

What helped Drysdale find his game upon returning was the emergence of Emil Andrae — and Rasmus Ristolainen, to be fair — which created a stable second pair. In 130:36 of 5-on-5 minutes together as the second pair, Risto and Andrae posted a 57.89 Corsi-for percentage and a 65.20 expected Goals-for percentage. Their strong playdriving pushed Seeler and Drysdale down to the third pair and, though they’re getting less minutes overall, they’re doing more in them.

Ice time

Drysdale has seen his all-situations ice time come down significantly, but at even strength he’s gotten almost the same minutes as before his injury. The third pair duties he’s been tasked with has lightened the workload and allowed Drysdale to flourish, but we should see his total ice time creep back up as he has reclaimed his spot on the top power play unit. He didn’t automatically get that role back when he returned to the lineup, as Andrae more than held his own, but with Andrae back on the Phantoms, it’s Drysdale’s spot to lose. If his strong underlying play translates to a second pair role by the end of the season, this year will be a massive success for Drysdale, even if the points aren’t necessarily there.

Nobody knows for sure what Drysdale worked on while he was out of the lineup, but it’s clear he and the coaching staff put in a lot of effort to get him playing better–and we’re seeing it play out now. Sheltered minutes are probably the best thing for Drysdale’s development, but it will be interesting to see what happens when he’s moved up the lineup due to injuries, trades, or downright solid hockey. He doesn’t have to be a minute-munching top-pair player to be an impactful NHLer, as nice as that would be, but at the very least he has to win his minutes. Since returning from injury, he’s doing just that.