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The Anaheim Ducks announced today that they’ve signed Jamie Drysdale to a three-year contract, which carries a $2.3 million cap hit.
Drysdale is 21 years old and missed the majority of last season with a shoulder injury. The defenseman was sitting out of training camp and preseason action to this point, as a result of the contract stalemate.
As for the contract itself, I’ll try to put out a contract analysis article at HockeyComparables.com in the next few days, but I think it has the potential to carry huge upside for the Ducks.
Should Drysdale have played this year, he would’ve almost certainly been due for a bigger payday. In just his sophomore season, he had already posted 32 points and was managing nearly 20 minutes per game in ice time.
He’ll slot in as part of a right side which also includes Radko Gudas and Ilya Lyubushkin, though the waiver claim of Lassi Thompson means there is a bit more competition than expected. While there’s still lots of room to improve, Drysdale has a huge opportunity with the Ducks. By the end of the contract, he’ll hopefully have solidified himself as a high-end, top-four (if not top-pairing) defender.
While it may have been the ideal play to take a chance and lock up Drysdale long-term while his value was low, from the player’s perspective, taking a shorter deal now to build his value before a longer-term contract makes sense. At just $2.3 million per year, Anaheim will get good value throughout the course of the contract.
With the signing, the Ducks have also cleared up their RFA contract issues. Especially with the Alex Killorn injury (not to mention Isac Lundestrom being out long-term), the team will have both Zegras and Drysdale at their disposal when the season begins.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Ducks sign Trevor Zegras to three-year contract extension 
Anaheim Ducks Blogger • 
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