In what’s been a really chaotic day across the NHL, with players like Simon Nemec, Jordan Kyrou, and William Eklund all on the move, but the Philadelphia Flyers may be getting in on the fun.
Instead of a trade though, the Flyers may be close to inking an extension with defenseman Jamie Drysdale. According to Andy Strickland, the deal isn’t done yet, but “it will get done”.
Extension between the Flyers and Jamie Drysdale isn’t done but it will get done. Stay tuned…
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) June 23, 2026
This reporting adds on to info from Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco, who reported yesterday that the Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale extensions were not likely to be tough negotiations for the Flyers to get done.
At this point it sounds like the #Flyers will deal w/ the Zegras and Drysdale extensions after July 1. Neither expected to be tough negotiations but other priorities atm (along w/ Zegras camp being occupied w/ other clients).
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) June 22, 2026
As always, things can change quick.@DailyFaceoff
Well, with the NHL Draft just days away, it sure seems like the Flyers are nearing getting at least one piece of business done with a Drysdale extension.
What could this Jamie Drysdale extension look like?
It’ll be very interesting to see what the number and the term comes out to for Drysdale, a 24-year-old coming off a career season that’s in his second-to-last year of RFA status. We’d think at minimum the deal is a three-year extension, but going anything more than six years feels a bit too long for this deal. Drysdale has only played to this level for one season, and we doubt the Flyers are going to take that long of a risk. So, four or five years feels like the sweet spot for a player of his caliber.
A month ago, we discussed the contract projections for possible Drysdale and Zegras extensions. Evolving-Hockey has a contract projection tool that takes into account similar players and situations, and uses Drysdale’s performance to find the most likely terms for a contract extension. If Drysdale signs a five-year deal, according to the model, his average salary comes in at $6.2 million. If it’s a four-year deal, the salary decreases to $5.9 million. If it’s a six-year deal, it’s $7.2 million.
Outside of the model projections, you’d think the Flyers would want to keep Drysdale in and around Cam York’s current salary of $5.15 million. With the rising cap and the different dynamics from when York signed his extension, that may be impossible, but the number should still guide the extension talks. It might be a bit strange if Drysdale made significantly more than York, so somewhere around that $5.5 to $6.5 million range really could be the sweet spot.
Essentially, the calculation for the Flyers is pretty simple. Go smaller money, shorter term on a three or four year deal, or go bigger money, longer term on a six to eight year deal that bets on Drysdale continuing to get better. It’s the classic risk to take on a guy like Drysdale, but it would be pretty surprising to see the Flyers go super long with him here. It just does not feel like the time and the right player to do it on, even though Drysdale has become quite effective as is.
Whatever happens with the terms, getting the Drysdale extension done and eventually the Zegras extension are important tasks to check off the list as we head towards July 1 and the start of free agency.
