Half of the 2023-24 Philadelphia Flyers season is in the books and one of the biggest storylines is how John Tortorella and Brad Shaw have handled the defense. On the whole, everyone is exceeding expectations and have been a big reason the team is having the bigger than expected success they’re enjoying.
But there’s change coming on the horizon for the 2024-25 season.
Tortorella got his way with the defense this year, opting to roll with guys like Nick Seeler, Marc Staal and Sean Walker while Ronnie Attard, Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning got one-way trips to the AHL. But that won’t exactly be the case next season. All three of Staal, Seeler and Walker are pending unrestricted free agents, while Attard’s off his entry-level contract, thus meaning he’s no longer waiver exempt and Andrae is too good for the AHL.
Cam York, Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen are the only other three besides Drysdale under main roster contract heading into the 2024-25 season, with Egor Zamula still a restricted free agent.
So that’s York, Drysdale, Sanheim, Ristolainen, Attard, Andrae and Zamula as the likely group of players to be battling for a main roster spot before any offseason moves are made.
That’s a potential in-house lineup filled with young, inexperienced, offensive-minded defenseman. Something that is going to drive John Tortorella absolutely nuts.
Drysdale is a key for the Flyers’ future. And when he was acquired from the Ducks, they basically said he’s going to get free rein to play his game and learn with time. And while in a very limited sample size, that appears to be true. It’s pretty much the exact opposite approach they’ve used with every other young player on the team. Typically, in the case of Andrae or Olle Lycksell, it goes something like giving them very limited minutes and waiting for them to screw up then scratch them for weeks before sending them back to the AHL forever. And if they’re not demoted, like Morgan Frost or Bobby Brink, they get scratched regularly for not playing the Torts way.
So why is Drysdale the exception to the rule? Well because they can’t afford to screw him up. They traded away their top prospect to acquire him, and if he was set up to fail, it’s a real back look on the organization if they interfere in his development. Why don’t they hold that kind of thinking with all their prospects, especially during a rebuild? Who knows.
What it does mean is that Drysdale will the the top right-handed defenseman in Philly for the foreseeable future. His success in that role is TBD, but that’s where he’ll be, at least until the shine wears off (if it ever does).
That leaves the defense looking like-
Sanheim – Drysdale
York – Ristolainen
Zamula/Andrae – Attard
Working under the assumption that every player is going to have at least average seasons, that’s a very progressive modern day defense group, and as noted above, Tortorella is going to have a hemorrhage dealing with them. Especially if they’re going to have to just eat the mistakes made by Drysdale, that leaves very little leash for Andrae, Attard and Zamula to have their hiccups.
The biggest positive this lineup provides is creating offense. All three of Drysdale, Andrae and Attard are powerplay quarterbacks. If Andrae especially can bring his offensive capabilities to the NHL level and Drysdale keeps his usual pace, that’s a huge boost to the powerplay by itself, even if their defense isn’t flawless.
What changes could they make? Well there’s the continued rumors that they could re-sign Sean Walker, but with the addition of Drysdale, there’s not a ton of room on the right side, meaning if they bring Walker back, they may have to deal Ristolainen. Nick Seeler’s name has also recently popped up in re-signing rumors. It shouldn’t even be a consideration considering the overflow of lefties on the roster, but it’s the Flyers, so adding defensemen for the sake of adding extra bodies has become their M.O. over the last few seasons.
They could also try and find a legitimate top pair left-handed defenseman to help out Drysale and reunite York and Sanheim on the second pair. Say they sign Noah Hanifin in free agency and swap Walker in for Ristolainen, that’s-
Hanifin – Drysdale
York – Sanheim
Andrae/Zamula – Walker
Attard
While that approach continues to make a circus of Andrae and Attard, Tortorella clearly like having options on the defense. It’s also very possible they don’t re-sign Zamula and give Andrae his spot outright.
Would they really add a top defense free agent this summer? It’s unlikely, there are certainly bigger holes to fill right now that LHD, but if it makes Drysdale better, it’s a route they should at least consider it.
Will the Flyers leave the defense group the same as it is on paper heading into 2024-25? It really is hard to imagine they don’t make any changes. Even if it comes in the form of re-signing Walker or Seeler or both. Having at least one “Torts guy” back there to get unjustified minutes is expected in some form or fashion.
Though, they probably should leave this group relatively intact. They gotta know what they’re dealing with internally with guys like Andrae and Attard, and without a bunch of random depth pieces, they can figure that out. And if injury strikes, they can get a sneak peak at guys like Adam Ginning or Helge Grans to see if they’ve got NHL potential or not. It’s what a rebuilding team should be doing, after all.
By next summer, they can sort things out with at least some level of clarity. If they need to go fishing for cookie cutter depth pieces like a Nick Seeler in 2025, then so be it, but guys like he and Staal should not be taking priority either on the ice or in negotiations at this point in time.
John Tortorella seems open to giving Drysdale all the room he needs to grow, and if the player can excel, maybe it gives him the confidence to do the same for some of the other young guys on the team. And considering the collision course they’re on with rookie defensemen heading into the 2024-25 season, they could collectively use all the good luck they could get to make their transition to the NHL as easy as possible, because it’s going to be a very interesting decision when it comes to what the Philadelphia Flyers opening night roster looks like.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: wikipedia / espn.com
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