Flyers, Drysdale avoid arbitration with new 4-year deal

With five days remaining before an arbitration hearing, the Philadelphia Flyers avoided that prospect with restricted free agent defenseman Jamie Drysdale, agreeing to terms on a 4-year contract extension worth a reported $6.5 million per year average annual value.

First with the report, per usual, was Elliotte Friedman of Canada's Sportsnet. 

In a statement issued by the team shortly after the initial tweet, Flyers GM Danny Briere said: "We're excited to have Jamie remain a key part of our organization for years to come. Since we acquired him, Jamie has worked extremely hard and taken big steps in his development and has established himself as a reliable piece on our back end with the ability to impact the game in all situations. 

"We believe his best hockey is still ahead of him and he's going to play an important role in strengthening our blue line as we continue to build."

Per club policy, no specific terms of the contract were revealed, but PuckPedia reported the breakdown is as follows:

2026-27: $4M salary, $4M signing bonus

2027-28: $4M salary, $3M signing bonus

2028-29: $6M salary

2029-30: $5M salary

As it was reported in the Zegras extension announced on Wednesday, Drysdale's contract also includes a 6-team modified no trade clause (NTC) Year 3 and a modified 4-team NTC in Year 4.

The 24-year-old Drysdale completed his 6th NHL campaign by posting 32 points (8G, 24A), while averaging 21:33 of ice time over 78 regular-season games. He added 2 power-play goals and 4 points across the club's 10 playoff contests. 

As a result of reducing his plus-minus rating from minus-32 to minus-3 as well as earning an uptick of more than a minute-and-a-half per game compared to 2024-25, Drysdale was given the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Award. The honor, inaugurated in 1994 and voted on by fellow teammates, recognizes the most improved player.

Acquired in January 2024 from the Anaheim Ducks -- who selected him 6th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft -- in the infamous Cutter Gauthier deal, the native of Ontario has collected 102 points over 295 career regular-season appearances since moving up to the NHL during the COVID-shortened 2021 season.

With this signing, that avoids an arbitration hearing scheduled for this coming Monday, the lone loose end among RFAs is Nikita Grebenkin.