Flyers to reinstate former first-round pick from injured reserve

Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale will come off injured reserve ahead of Monday's game against the Islanders after missing over a month with a shoulder injury. 

Philadelphia will likely make a corresponding transaction later Monday, as activating Drysdale gives them an excess of nine healthy defenders on the active roster with two of them being waiver-exempt (Ronald Attard, Adam Ginning).

Philly fans cringed when Drysdale sustained the injury on Feb. 25 against Pittsburgh, appearing to reinjure the shoulder that kept him out of all but eight games last year. 

A weeks-long absence isn’t ideal for the young blueliner as he tries to make his mark after being acquired from the Ducks midseason, but avoiding anything longer-term is still good news. 

Drysdale wasn’t overly impressive in 17 games with the Flyers, scoring twice and adding two assists, but he did log much-improved possession numbers from his time in Anaheim.

After the Ducks drafted Drysdale with the sixth overall pick in 2020, he had a breakout rookie campaign two seasons later, scoring 32 points in 81 games as a 19-year-old. 

The torn labrum less than a month into the 2022-23 season stunted all of his momentum, though, and he hasn’t been able to recapture his pre-injury form. 

A lower-body injury also cost him most of the early going of this year with Anaheim and he has been limited to 27 appearances across his two clubs.

The sinking Flyers will gladly welcome his presence as they fight to turn things around and secure a playoff spot. They’ve gone 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, dropping them out of third place in the Metropolitan Division and putting them only two points ahead of the Red Wings, who have a game in hand, for the second wild-card spot in the East. 

Outside of their top pairing of Travis Sanheim and Cameron York, Philly doesn’t have many skilled puck-movers on its back end. 

Plugging Drysdale back into the lineup should allow trade-deadline pickup Erik Johnson to be relieved of his overmatched top-four spot alongside Nick Seeler.