As the 2024 offseason comes to a close, the Philadelphia Flyers managed to keep a vast majority of their roster in tact from the previous campaign, including the entirety of their defense, sans Marc Staal.
There’s currently seven main roster players under contract (Cam York, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, Jamie Drysdale, Rasmus Ristolainen, Erik Johnson and Egor Zamula), plus Ronnie Attard, who’s on a one way deal, and at least two other AHLers (Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning) who could theoretically compete for a spot.
It’s a congested mess if ever there was, so how does the defense break down in 2024-25?
Well, the top pair will probably be Cam York and Travis Sanheim to start the season. The two easily played the most minutes on the team last year, and Sanheim did a decent job on his off-side. The lack of a true top pair righty doesn’t force the issue of moving Sanheim back to his natural left side.
The second pair is a bit more interesting. One would think Jamie Drydale would take that 2RD spot, meaning Nick Seeler is more than likely taking the left side. It’s a duo they rolled last season and already hinted they’ll be attached at the hip for 2024-25, but Seeler’s play in the 2023-24 season was by far the outlier of his career, so whether or not he can maintain that level will be a storyline worth keeping an eye on.
That leaves the third pair for lefty Egor Zamula and the returning RHD Rasmus Ristolainen. Risto has, on the whole, worked well under John Tortorella, who has limited his total minutes and deployed him in more favorable situations.
Both of the other bodies under main roster contract are right handed, being Erik Johnson and Ronnie Attard. Which is interesting, because it’s definitely going to be Zamula who gets punished regularly, taking the bullet so Torts can get Johnson in the lineup as often as possible, so they’ll possibly end up rolling with two lefties on the top pair and two righties on the bottom pair.
The setup basically leaves Ronnie Attard and lefty Emil Andrae as the odd men out, which is just status quo to last season.
It looks like this:
York – Sanheim
Seeler – Drysdale
Zamula – Ristolainen
Johnson
Andrae / Attard
Now, if they do a classic L-R scheme (which Tortorella historically doesn’t adhere to) it would mean that Sanheim moves back to the left at the expense of Zamula, and Drysdale gets bumped up to the top pair, opening a spot for preferably Ronnie Attard (but more likely Erik Johnson) on the right.
Theoretically, it should happen eventually. York and Drysdale should be the long-term goal, and it’s already been proven that Sanheim and Ristolainen work well together. Zamula also has experience playing on the right side, so Seeler and Zamula both could stay in, or Tortorella gets his wet dream of Seeler and Johnson on the third line.
Something like this:
York – Drysdale
Sanheim – Ristolainen
Seeler – Zamula
Johnson/Attard
Now, Emil Andrae has been getting some positive reviews during the early days of training camp after serving as the top lefty for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms during the 2023-24 season. But the abundance of lefties on the roster and the overall logjam on top of the financial struggles of the team means it’s highly unlikely Andrae starts the season on the main roster.
Based on their lack of offseason change and willingness to re-sign Johnson, clearly they don’t have any ambition to play their AHL-level prospects. So (barring a training camp injury) Andrae, Adam Ginning and Attard will all likely start the season in the AHL. Again, status quo from the 2023-24 season.
The big (and really only) story to watch on defense is going to come down to whether or not Drysdale becomes a top-pair quality defenseman. A York-Drysdale pair is something the Flyers should probably hope to achieve in the long-term, but Tortorella hasn’t seemed too keen on the idea in the short term as Drysdale gets his game together. If he can stay healthy during the 2024-25 season and display some of the potential he had as a former sixth overall pick, a York-Drysdale pair could be a reality by the end of the season.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
brotherlypuck.com 