Jamie Drysdale is quietly dominating in the playoffs

At some point in the future, the Philadelphia Flyers would like to have more size on their defense. Teams like the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers could out-muscle a smaller defenseman on the boards, and they\'ll be more vulnerable on dump-ins. This only ramps up in the playoffs, where the intensity and speed of the game seems to double overnight and the bumps and bruises start piling up. We\'ve heard this discussed for years.

It hasn\'t mattered to Jamie Drysdale. He\'s been outstanding in the playoffs despite being undersized. For a player who was having issues staying healthy , Drysdale has now played in 86 games and over 1,800 minutes of hockey. His workload has only increased in the postseason, averaging 70 seconds more time on ice than in the regular season, including a 29:59 and a 29:12 in two of the last three games. For his first time playing over 70 games since he was a teenager, the 24-year-old is proving he can be a valuable piece to a contending team\'s blueline.

The offense

Drysdale enjoyed a career high in goals in the regular season with eight, including four in the ten games immediately following the Olympic break to kick-start the run that they\'re still on. In the playoffs, he\'s got two in eight games. His shot attempts per game is up from 3.25 per game in the regular season to 4.1, and he\'s got 15 of them on goal in the playoffs thus far. Drysdale is tied for the team lead in goals with Porter Martone and Travis Sanheim, while also being tied for second in total scoring with four points with several of the forwards. Whether that says more about Drysdale or the lack of punch from the forwards is up for debate, but it\'s a welcoming sign any time the defenders are chipping in from the back end.

DRYSDALE ON THE PP TO GIVE THE FLYERS THE 1-0 LEAD 🔥🚨

First time Carolina has trailed all playoffs 😱 pic.twitter.com/pFGwTB5K96

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 4, 2026

Ideally, the power play would be better, and he\'s a big part of it. To his credit, he did score the only power play goal of the second round to this point for the Flyers, but it\'s deficiencies probably cost them Game 2 on the whole. They had several good looks throughout the game, but either failed to finish or hit the net entirely on too many occasions. Drysdale was quoted after the game as saying, \"maybe got away from the gameplan a little bit, they adjusted for sure.\"

It does seem like, with 11 power play opportunities through just the two games, that Drysdale and the Flyers are going to get plenty of chances to make their own adjustments to have a chance at saving their season. The aforementioned \"gameplan\" hasn\'t worked for some time now, so straying from the whiteboard might not be the worst idea.

Looking at Drysdale\'s shot map in all situations for his eight playoff games, he\'s certainly taking good opportunities to shoot from that central area, including the goal he scored to kick off Game 2. Even if those shots aren\'t going directly in the net, they would seem to have the highest chance of a rebound dropping to either side of the goaltender. He\'s done a really good job of getting pucks through the shot blockers as well, as turnovers in that area can get ugly.

The defense

This is maybe the most encouraging development of Drysdale\'s game. With the tools he has -- the skating and puck-moving to be specific -- Drysdale was always going to be able to contribute offensively in some fashion. The defensive game, on the other hand, was what needed to be completely torn down and rebuilt when he was acquired as a 21-year-old from Anaheim.

Drysdale\'s speed allows him to take more risks pinching in the offensive zone. Not only is he skilled enough to make a play, he can also recover better than most defensemen in those positions because of his ability to chase down puck carriers from behind. His open-ice plays breaking up counter attacks and rushes is really fun to watch, and he\'s then able to spin pucks back up ice.

By the numbers in Game 2 against Carolina, Drysdale enjoyed a 65.2 Expected Goal Share in all situations on top of scoring the first goal of the game. Even his shot attempt share numbers are above 50 percent in a game that Carolina controlled the majority of the shot attempts. Seven power plays will inflate the all-situation numbers, but they also went four of the power plays without a shot on target, so it\'s almost a wash.

Now, the 5-on-5 shot attempt numbers might suggest that Drysdale\'s pairing with Cam York wasn\'t very effective. However, only half of those 14 Hurricane shot attempts made it on goal, and they were stingy about giving up the dangerous ones. The pairing still graded out at over 51 percent Expected Goal Share at 5-on-5 despite the quantity of shots against. That\'s two of the three pairings playing over 27 minutes together having good success against a team that always sparkles in these advanced numbers, as the Sanheim pairing had a 64.7 percent share in their minutes.

For the playoffs as a whole, Drysdale\'s pairing with York grades out marginally better than the Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen pairing by expected goal share. They\'re the best Flyer pairing with over 60 minutes together at 46.8 percent -- good for 18th in the league among all defensive pairings -- but seven of the pairings ahead of them league-wide went home after the first round. They\'re the sixth most used pairing in the playoffs by raw minutes together. They\'ve only played three home games, meaning they aren\'t able to pick and choose their matchups as often as they\'d like to. Drysdale\'s pairing has been effective and leaned on in the postseason despite all of this and will continue to be counted on.

Game 2 was Drysdale\'s third game of the playoffs at over 65 percent expected goal share, leaving him with a 51.7 percent in the eight games. From functionally their fourth defenseman by time on ice, it\'s a good recipe for team success, and extremely encouraging that Drysdale is flourishing despite concerns over size and long-term health. Watching him fly around the ice has been a treat, and whatever happens the rest of the series, the Lindbergh Trophy winner for most improved Flyer should carry a ton of confidence into next season and beyond.

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