The Philadelphia Flyers have signed restricted free agent Jamie Drysdale to a four-year, $26 million contract, avoiding arbitration.
The deal carries an annual cap hit of $6.5 million.
“We’re excited to have Jamie remain a key part of our organization for years to come,” said GM Daniel Briere. “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.”
Signing Drysdale comes just two days after the Flyers signed forward Trevor Zegras to a four-year deal at a cap hit of $9.125 million to avoid arbitration with him. Only winger Nikita Grebenkin remains in need of a new deal as a restricted free agent this summer and he was not arbitration eligible.
Per PuckPedia, the Flyers have just under $14 million in cap space after signing Drysdale. The team attempted to land Leo Carlsson on a five-year deal at an $18 million cap hit this summer but saw their offer sheet matched by the Anaheim Ducks.
Drysdale, 24, recorded eight goals and 32 points in 78 games with the Flyers last season while averaging 21:33 of ice time.
He added two goals and four points in 10 playoff games while averaging 22:11 of ice time before the Flyers were eliminated in the second round.
The 5-foot-11, right-shot blueliner is coming off a three-year, $6.9 million contract that carried a cap hit of $2.3 million.
Philadelphia acquired Drysdale from the Anaheim Ducks, along with a draft pick, in exchange for forward Cutter Gauthier on Jan. 8.
Drafted sixth overall by the Ducks in 2020, Drysdale has 25 goals and 102 points in 295 career games split between the Ducks and Flyers.
The Toronto native represented Canada twice at the World Juniors, winning gold in 2020 and silver in 2021.
