Jamie Drysdale Reflects on His Time as an Anaheim Duck

Just a little under a year after being traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, Jamie Drysdale will officially make his return to Honda Center. The 22-year-old defenseman was dealt in exchange for Cutter Gauthier, who is cutting his teeth as a rookie this season with the Ducks and had his own circumstances which created the deal that swapped youngsters.

“It’s definitely a little weird (to be in the visitors’ locker room),” Drysdale said after the Flyers’ practice this afternoon at Honda Center. “There’s really no other way to put it. You’d been on the other side for so long. It’s good to be back, I'm really excited for the game. It should be a lot of fun.

“It’s a big adjustment getting traded in the first place and East Coast, West Coast, there's a lot of differences. But I love it (in Philadelphia). Everyone here has treated me so well since the second I got here. I'm real grateful for that and a lot of good friends here. A lot of great friends on the other side as well. Obviously, we’ve got a game to play tomorrow and like I said, (I’m) excited.”

Drysdale has played in 23 games this season for the Flyers, with his season interrupted by an upper-body injury that he suffered in early November. But since his return from a month-long absence, he has combined with Nick Seeler to form a solid pairing.

“I love playing with Seels,” Drysdale said. “He’s about as steady as they come. Plays hard every night and very predictable. Big fan of playing with him and hopefully we can continue to do so.”

Drysdale believes that he can’t comment on the difference in philosophies between playing for Ducks head coach Greg Cronin and his current coach John Tortorella due to the low number of games he played for Cronin before being traded, but he was complimentary of how much intense and passionate both coaches are.

“Torts is great,” Drysdale said. “I think the biggest thing is that they just care so much and you can never fault a guy for caring that much and leading your team into the fire. I have nothing but good things to say about both of them.”

While contract negotiations proved to be difficult during Drysdale first excursion as a restricted free agent during the summer of 2023, he said that he has no hard feelings about the trade and believed his time with the Ducks ended on good terms.

“I had nothing against (that). The team was awesome. I created so many good relationships with the team. All the guys (are) friends I'll have forever. The support staff, the immediate staff, the coaches that I had since I was there, a lot of great relationships. (Former Ducks general manager) Bob Murray's here in Philly, so I still talk to him, I enjoyed my time there and made a lot of good memories and relationships.”

One player and former teammate that Drysdale will not be playing against tomorrow is Trevor Zegras, who is currently recovering from meniscus surgery. The pair often spent time together off the ice and even rehabbed injuries together when both of them were hurt last season.

“He and I have not had the best luck in terms of injuries thus far,” Drysdale said. “Knock on wood for the both of us in that scenario. Would have been real nice to play against him but, hopefully, there's a lot more times down the road.”

Drysdale said that he still keeps in touch regularly with Zegras and Mason McTavish, two players that he said have ‘gone through a lot of the same things and good buddies that I’ll have for a long time’. Due to team policy regarding speaking with injured players, Zegras was unable to be reached for comment.

McTavish found it difficult to pick out a specific memory when asked for his favorite encounter with Drysdale: “Probably just hanging out with him around the rink. He, (Zegras) and I were pretty close so we’d kind of do everything together. There’s nothing that really sticks out as far as just one, we just kind of did everything together.”