Jamie Drysdale
Jamie Drysdale | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
April 8, 2002 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
Weight | 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb) | ||
Position | Defence | ||
Shoots | Right | ||
NHL team Former teams |
Philadelphia Flyers Anaheim Ducks | ||
NHL Draft |
6th overall, 2020 Anaheim Ducks | ||
Playing career | 2021–present |
Jamie Drysdale (born April 8, 2002) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected sixth overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, and made his NHL debut in 2021.
Early life
Drysdale was born on April 8, 2002, in Toronto, Ontario, to parents Gary and Tina. He learned to skate through the hockey program Learn to Play at the age of five. Growing up, his father's favourite player was Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins, resulting in both his sons wearing the jersey number four.
Playing career
Growing up in Toronto, Drysdale played in 1 game in the Ontario Junior Hockey League with the St. Michael's Buzzers as an affiliate player and played Minor Midget AAA hockey with the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). At the age of 15, he helped lead the Marlboros to a GTHL Championship and was named the GTHL’s Player of the Year. He also helped GTHL Red win the 2018 OHL Gold Cup Final and was named to the OHL Cup All-Star Team. As a result of his play, Drysdale was drafted fourth overall by the Erie Otters in the 2018 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Priority Selection.
During his rookie season with the Otters, Drysdale led team defencemen in goals, assists, scoring, and power-play points resulting in a selection for the 2018-19 OHL First All-Rookie Team. The following season, he ranked 10th among OHL defensemen in points-per-game by recording nine goals and 38 points in 49 games. As a result, he was named an OHL First Team All-Star in 2019–20.
Professional
While the league was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Drysdale took up inline skating to remain in shape and began working out at home. Leading up to the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Drysdale received praise from scout David Gregory who said: "Drysdale is the kind of player that every team is looking for, very smart puck-moving defenceman who can beat you with his vision, beat you with his hockey sense, able to use that great quickness and thinking..." He earned a high final ranking from the NHL Central Scouting Bureau amongst North American skaters before being drafted sixth overall by the Anaheim Ducks.
Shortly following the draft, Drysdale signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Anaheim. Drysdale began the 2020–21 season with Anaheim's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He played in 14 games with the Gulls, registering four goals and ten points before being recalled to Anaheim's taxi squad. In his brief stint with the Gulls, Drysdale was named AHL Rookie of the Month for February 2021. After sitting a few games, Drysdale made his NHL debut on March 18, 2021 against the Arizona Coyotes, where he also recorded his first career NHL goal. During the same game, fellow rookie Trevor Zegras also scored, making the teammates the youngest in NHL history to each score their first NHL goals less than 2:30 apart. He played in 24 games to finish the season, registering eight points. In his first full season with Anaheim during the 2021–22 season, Drysdale played in 81 games, scoring four goals and 32 points. His 32 points placed him second among rookie defencemen in the league.
Eight games into the 2022–23 season, Drysdale suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Following the season, Drysdale was a restricted free agent. He trained in Toronto while his contract situation was sorted, which extended deep into the 2023 training camp. A three-year, $6.9 millon agreement was reached between Drysdale and Anaheim on October 5, 2023, at the end of training camp.
On January 8, 2024, Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for the signing rights to Cutter Gauthier.
International play
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing Canada | ||
Ice hockey | ||
World Junior Championships | ||
2020 Czech Republic | ||
2021 Canada |
Drysdale has represented Canada at the international level on numerous occasions. His first international tournament was during the 2018 World U-17 Hockey Challenge with Canada Black. He recorded four points in five games as the team failed to medal. Following the tournament, Drysdale competed at the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships and 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
In 2020, Drysdale became the seventh 17-year-old defenceman to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors since 1991. He originally served as Team Canada's extra defenceman before making his debut during the semifinal game against Finland as a replacement for an ill Bowen Byram. Throughout the tournament, he averaged 11:38 of ice time and recorded one goal and two assists in seven games. Drysdale was again named to Team Canada at the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he was a top-pairing defenceman alongside Byram.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
2017–18 | St. Michael's Buzzers | OJHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2018–19 | Erie Otters | OHL | 63 | 7 | 33 | 40 | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2019–20 | Erie Otters | OHL | 49 | 9 | 38 | 47 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2020–21 | San Diego Gulls | AHL | 14 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
2020–21 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 24 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2021–22 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 81 | 4 | 28 | 32 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2022–23 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2023–24 | Anaheim Ducks | NHL | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL totals | 123 | 8 | 37 | 45 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — |
International
Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Canada Black | U17 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |
2019 | Canada | U18 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
2019 | Canada | HG18 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
2020 | Canada | WJC | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
2021 | Canada | WJC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
Junior totals | 31 | 1 | 15 | 16 | 2 |