Why Jamie Drysdale’s Season Is MAKE-OR-BREAK With The Philadelphia Flyers

Why Jamie Drysdale’s Season Is MAKE-OR-BREAK With The Philadelphia Flyers

This does really feel like a make orb breakak season for the player that Danny Brriier got in return for cutter goier. And last season uh we really like the second half he had. It seemed like he progressed in both zones honestly in the defensive and offensive zone. But the fact remains he played 70 games, put up seven goals, 20 total points. And uh I know you personally don’t think like, oh yeah, points for defenseman, but a guy like Dale, that’s kind of got to be his thing. Like he’s got to be a big part of the power play. He’s got to be moving the puck up ice, whether it’s passing or using his awesome skating ability to create scoring chances. And by doing that, you would think points would follow. Scoring chances equal scoring points. not so much the case, especially in the first half last year, but we did like some of what we saw. How big of a year do you think this is for the uh 23year-old defenseman? Yeah, I think this is an enormous year for Jamie Dale to be clear. Like the when me and Kelly were talking about make or break, our focus was more on the players that’ll make or break the Flyers season. And the reason why Dale like he we discussed him briefly but our my view generally with Dale was yeah he theoretically could I guess establish himself as a power play one 50point guy. he has the talent to do it, but worst case scenario, he’s just a passable third pair defenseman that’s probably not going to kill the Flyers. And I don’t know if Dale having a breakout year is going to turn them into a playoff team in the way that, you know, if Sam Erison’s great, if Maf Mishkov’s great, if Owen Tippet’s great, if Trevor Ziggers especially is great. But if we’re talking about is it a big year for Jamie Dale the individual, it’s an enormous year for Jamie Dale the individual on a number of levels. Number one, he showed, as you mentioned, real progress in the second half of last year, and the hope is that he can build on that and then use that as a springboard to this season. However, he’s going to have to do it without the defensive coach that helped get him to the point he was in the second half of last year. Like the absence of Brad Shaw, Jamie Dale is the biggest concern I have because I feel like I think Travis Sanheim will be fine. You know, Nick Cer will be fine. I think you know you know Cam York I think will be okay especially because yeah he’s losing Brad Shaw but he’s also losing John Tortoella so it’s a net gain for Cam York on that front but but with Dedale like I think he had a really good like teacher student relationship with Brad Shaw and now he’s going to have to recreate that with Todd Rearen Grant a guy who’s very well respected in the game but there’s no guarantee that that’s going to happen quickly might take them some time and Jamie Daz has to the point where he’s kind of running out of developmental time. I know defenseman the the the truism as they develop later, but it just felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough and now he’s going to have to try to build off that breakthrough without the guy who was helping him reach that point. And that does worry me a bit. But if he does have that breakthrough, he could build off what he was doing in the second half, take another step, and now we’re talking about a really important defensive for the Flyers going forward. Yeah. Like I think health is a big thing for him. like last year he gets hurt, but really what we came to realize was, okay, he played 70 games last year. He probably could have played a lot more. Uh, but there was an effort made to rather than scratch him, kind of keep him on IR and use that opportunity to develop him in practice and bring him along and tape study. And really when he came back from that injury early in the season, we started to see him take some steps defensively. And then in the second half, we started to see, especially in the last couple of months, we really started to see him pop offensively a little bit. Yeah. So that continued development, especially at this age. Listen, yes, defenseman take a while sometimes, but at 23 with his speed, like in a contract year, you need to show some progress here, man, because all right, yes, you’re a restricted free agent probably for two more years, I believe. Uh yeah, his contract’s up and he’s got two more years become before he becomes a uh an unrestricted, but we’re not gonna keep you around and have a roster spot dedicated to you when we know they’re not crazy about the idea of having all these undersized defenseman to begin with. It’s true. Like they just drafted some guys who can play who are a little bigger. We know that. Okay, they gave Cam York a five-year deal. Emil Andre is in the system. How much time are they going to dedicate to continuing this Jamie Dale project if a substantial step isn’t taken this year? Yeah. No, you’re absolutely right. And Emil Andre to me is the big one because look, Cam York is he’s not small. He’s just not big. He’s he’s he doesn’t play big, but he’s not small. Yeah. And he doesn’t really play small either. He just plays like an averagesized defenseman, I would say. Because he’s an averagesized defenseman. Exactly. It’s more that I don’t think they’re comfortable with the idea of having all of York, Drydale, and Andre in the same defense for an extended period of time. Brent Flair said it. Brent Flair is straight up said, so if Dale is good, then presumably Andre is probably part of this for the long term. But if Dale flops again, they could very easily pivot back to Andre and say, “Okay, well, hey, doors open for you. We’re going to call you back up and see what you can do.” And if he kills it in tandem with Dale struggling, then maybe their their opinions switch. There’s a new coaching staff. Maybe Todd Rearen’s like, “Hey, I trust this uh this Andre kid more than I trust Jamie Dale.” And Rick Tockett’s like, “All right, well, I’ll go to Bat for for what my coach thinks in terms of the defense score.” But I want to say with Dale, I don’t want this to be super negative. I do I do think that because of the fact that the Flyers, you know, they they had the big draft, they got Trevor Ziggress, we are forgetting just how intriguing Dale was starting to look at the end of the year. I think it has kind of been forgotten. He was starting to look like a fun defenseman at the end of the year. He was really showing things. Now, maybe he tailed off a little bit at the end end of the season, but there was like a good month, month and a half where you’re like Jamie Daw’s one of the most exciting players on this team. He’s one of the reasons why I want to watch them play because I want to see if he can keep building on this. There was something there and there is a world where he shows up for game one and just builds right off that and is that guy all year and we’re talking about a breakout season for Jamie Dza. I think it is it’s not something I’m necessarily expecting, but I think it’s very possible. And if he does, then he is part of this because hey, they trade cutter goautier for him. There are people in this front office that believe in Jamie Dale and if he shows it on the ice like bye-bye Emil Andre because Jamie Dale is the guy that we want to seize that mantle. No. And that’s I I do think while you might not oh we want to be a possession team and we spent so much time talking about like okay does that mean more dump and chase? What exactly? I do think we we talked about defenseman carrying the puck more out of the zone. Like that’s something I want to see done quite a bit more because so much of what they did offensively to uh create the rush chances that John Tordella wanted them to over the last couple of years was getting the puck up to the forwards as quickly as possible. And while I think Jamie Ddale could excel in doing that with uh his vision and passing ability, using his skating to break the puck out and get the puck through the neutral zone is something I want to see a lot more of. And I think he could be in position to do that with a team that just wants to have the puck more than they did last year. Uh I I’m looking forward to it. Now, in terms of the step we need to see him take, Charlie, last year was so much eye test. Like, you all right, man. I’m I’m I’m liking what I’m seeing. He’s being more aggressive in the offensive zone. It started to uh turn into some points uh eventually in the season, but it was a lot of eye tests like, yo, he just doesn’t look as out of place defensively. And we learned how big of a deal it was going from manto man to zone and all that. He’s not looking as out of place defensively. He’s looking more aggressive offensively, but again, 20 points. Is there like a benchmark you’re looking for him to reach this year that you’re like, “Okay, that’s it. That’s the guy he needs to be.” I I think I want him to at least be in the 30s point-wise. I I do. Just because presumably he’s going to get power play time. Hopefully he’ll be on power play one. Maybe they’ll try there because of the uh the chemistry that York and Zager showed at the US NDP. But I think Dale like Dale had chemistry with with Ziggers too when they were in Anaheim. So there’s that. I want to see him at least in the 30s. I mean ideally he’s breaking 40. He’s approaching 50. That would be a breakout season for Dale. But at the very least I want to see him in the 30s because you’re right. I’m not a points guy, but Dale is one of the the types of defense where it does matter for because he is going to be getting power play time and he is never going to be a shutdown defenseman. He does need to be helping not just break the team out, but but be helping out in the offensive zone, be activating, be attacking on the rush. That’s his game. That’s what he has to be to be a truly effective defenseman. So, yeah, for points for for him, points matter, and I want to see him at the very least somewhere in the 30s this year. Yeah. Yeah. I’m just looking. So last year, so Travis Sanheim 30 points led the Flyers defenseman and that was ninth on the team. I would like to see hopefully it’s Stdale, but maybe you’re whoever the power play one defenseman is. I want to see a defenseman in the top five in scoring on this team total points like okay that is something maybe six like okay you’re tied with you know one of our right there one of our top fours if you have the same number you’re off by a couple whatever I want to see a defenseman in the top five or six and I want that guy to be Jamie Ddale just because I’m a little more positively predisposed to uh to Dale than I am York but like I said wiping the slate clean with York as well. Uh but yeah, I just need to see more production from the defense and that starts with Ddale because that’s his thing. Like that’s what we need him to do. He had a 32 point season a few years ago in Anaheim. You mentioned he’s had uh he’s had that sort of chemistry with Zegris before. I need to see Yeah. high 30s, something like that for him as a a tangible. All right, look at the production jump. He got back to that 30-ish mark that he had a few years ago and surpassed it. The power play is functional and hopefully he can be a part of the reason it is. Yeah. Um I I’m expecting it a little because I did like what I saw out of him last year, but with the expectation comes it’s make or break time, bud. That’s totally fair. All right, and that is the shootout for this Labor Day edition of PHLY Flyers. Make sure you tune in on Tuesday at our new start time of 4 pm. Uh looking forward to it. The season is upon us, Charlie. Uh with uh with us moving back to four o’clock. That’ll do it for today’s show. I am Bill Matz. That is Charlie Oconor coming to you live from the Exfinity Mobile studio. Till Tuesday, be excellent to each other.

With Assistant Coach Brad Shaw, who was highly regarded for his improvement of multiple defensemen and the penalty kill, leaving the Flyers for the rival New Jersey Devils, a lot of eyes will be on how the defensemen improve under Rick Tocchet’s new staff.

One defenseman fans will certainly have an eye on is Jamie Drysdale and his development. Bill Matz and Charlie O’Connor explain why this season is make-or-break for Jamie Drysdale and prove his worth from the Cutter Gauthier trade.

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