Quick Hits: August 8, 2024
1) What are your expectations in 2024-25 for Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale? The sixth overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft turned 22 on April 8. An upcoming Offseason Spotlight article on Philadelphia flyers.com will take an in-depth look at Drysdale's 2023-24 season with the Flyers after he came over from Anaheim in exchange for the rights to Cutter Gauthier. It will also look at the keys to success for Drysdale next season and beyond.
My main concern about Drysdale is not his potential to improve his game. It's his ability to stay healthy enough to see it through. While with Anaheim in 2022-23, a torn labrum in his left shoulder limited Drysdale to eight games. For nearly the entire 2023-24 season, both with the Ducks and Flyers, Drysdale dealt with soreness in his lower left abdominal area. He underwent sports hernia surgery in April, shortly after the end of the season.
Last season, Drysdale also dealt with another shoulder left shoulder injury. The injury happened on an open-ice hit delivered on Feb. 25 by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jansen Harkins. Drysdale returned on April 1 for the remainder of the season but was still noticeably at less than one hundred percent (7 GP, 0 G, 1 A, minus-nine).
Unfortunately, I don't think there has been any sort of a reliable gauge on Drysdale the last two seasons because of the string of significant injuries. There were flashed where he looked to be the high-skill young D he's touted to be -- especially on the offensive side of the puck -- but there was a lot of unimpressive play overall. I have little doubt that much of this was due to trying to play through his injuries: a sports hernia PLUS the shoulder issue is a mighty tough road to hoe. Add to that navigating a big adjustment in systems (man-to-man vs. zone coverage responsibilities), and the deck was pretty stacked against Drysdale having a breakthrough last season.
As for the season ahead, I hope Drysdale can hit the ground running. However, I'd be less than truthful if I said I have no concerns that it will take him as much as half the season to start to look more like what's expected from a pure speed burst consistency perspective. This is the norm rather than the exception after players return from sports hernia surgery. It's the cases where the player shows few still-lingering effects from hernia surgery that seem to be exception.
I don't know much slack Drysdale will receive from segments of the fan base that are beyond tired of being asked for patience. Unfortunately, most 22-year-old defensemen are still in the "be patient with them" phase of their NHL careers even if they've never had a major injury. Add in all the time Drysdale has missed the last two seasons plus an after-season sports hernia operation and patience is an absolute must.
Drysdale seems to have a thick skin and have a go-with-the-flow personality. That could work for him in this case. The injuries are not his fault, nor need he concern himself with how Gauthier fares next season with the Ducks. He wasn't the one who forced a trade, and the development cycle of a defenseman vs. a forward is usually quite different in the first place.
I do know this, however: The Flyers absolutely NEED Drysdale to eventually come close to reaching the ceiling projected in his Draft year. It needn't happen in 2024-25 (although it'd get critics off his case sooner) but he needs a sharp upward trend within the next few years. There's no room for the Flyers to be proven to have made the wrong call on Drysdale. They have to hit the mark. Danny Briere and Keith Jones have both publicly said as much, and they are right about that.
2) Prospects: With an eye toward each Flyers prospect's chances of playing in the 2024/25 and/or 2025-26 World Junior Championships, I recapped the usage and performances of the eight Flyers draftees who participated in the 2024 Summer Showcase. For the full rundown.
click here.
3) August 8 Flyers Alumni birthday: Scott Sandelin (1964).
American-born defenseman Sandelin, born Aug. 8, 1964 in Hibbing, Minnesota, turns 60 today. He was originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (40th overall) fo the 1982 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut for the Habs during the 1986-87 season. Primarily, he played at the American Hockey League with the Sherbrooke Canadiens.
The Flyers acquired the former Hobey Baker Award finalist, a University of North Dakota graduate, from Montreal in the November 7, 1988 deal that sent J.J. Daigneault to the Habs.
The six-foot, 200-pound Sandelin spent the majority of three seasons (1988-89 to 1990-91) in the AHL with Hershey. In 1990-91, he acquitted himself adequately during a nine-game NHL recall to the Flyers. With the exception of being minus-three in a 7-0 Flyers loss in Minnesota, Sandelin held his own until he broke a bone in his right forearm in a game against Washington. He missed the next six weeks. Upon his return, he was sent back to Hershey.
Sandelin earned two additional call-ups to the Flyers that season. Overall, he dressed in 15 games for the Flyers in 1990-91, posting three assists and a minus-15 rating. He moved on over the summer, signing with Bob Clarke's Minnesota North Stars. He primarily played in the minors but did dress in one game for Minnesota in 1991-92.
At the American Hockey League and International Hockey League levels, Sandelin was a fine puck-moving defenseman. After his retirement, he began a successful coaching career. He preceded future Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol as an assistant coach at UND before taking the head coaching job at the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2000-01.
In 2024-25, Sandelin will embark on his 25th season of coaching the Bulldogs. He is the winningest coach in the 92-year history of the Minnesota Duluth hockey program and the team has won three national championships (2010-11, 2017-18 and 2018-19) under his direction. Current Flyers players Noah Cates was part of the 2018-19 championship squad. So was Noah's brother, former Flyers/Phantoms forward Jackson Cates.
During the early 2020s, Sandelin's name periodically came up as a candidate for NHL head coaching vacancies, especially after the back-to-back NCAA championships. However, the former NHL player always opted to stay put where he holds rock solid job security and where he and his family have made their permanent residence.
Internationally, Sandelin has served as the Team USA head coach at the 2004-05 (4th place) and 2019-20 (6th place) World Junior Championship. He was an assistant coach for the 2011-12 (7th place) and 218-19 ((silver medalist) squads.
Scott's son Ryan, a forward, is entering his senior season at Minnesota State Mankato. Like his father, he has future coaching ambitions, and has worked with USA Hockey as a coach.
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