Jamie Drysdale has signed a new contract with the Anaheim Ducks.

I mean this seems like a pretty good deal to me

Terrible from both perspectives, for different reasons.

Drysdale should have asked for either more money or less term (IMO 2 years, 3.25 mil) and Anaheim shouldn’t have taken this long to sign him. They had the money to sign him before training camp and pre-season. And they had the money to sign him to this deal — or a better one — for a good long while.

Obviously, this is all my opinion. But in my opinion, this is the sort of situation that torpedoes relationships.

Now THIS is a bridge deal that absolutely makes sense for Anaheim. Talented player, but the injury obviously axes any conversion about a long term contract for both sides. I've little doubt that he'll far out perform this contract. That said, give Ottawa Lassi back no please.


Also Jake Sanderson clears btw

I was expecting a 1x2M show me deal. This works for a bit that is.

This feels like a bargain. Surprised Drysdale agreed to 3 yrs at this $.

Bargain value, but why so few years?

Why in a million years would Jamie Drysdale sign for more term than this? He's got all sorts of talent and upside, but no contract leverage coming off a lost season. He'll do far better for himself outperforming on a bridge deal, and being able to cash in properly once he's established himself.

It’s a Sens fan, they’re just wondering why he wasn’t signed to 7.5x8

I'm a little tied up on this one

Great Deal for both sides.

Drysdale gets a chance to prove himself while making decent money.

Ducks get a good young player locked up for 3 years for a fair price.

Would have liked this to be sooner.

Overall W for Verbeek.

Only played 8 games last year, tore his Labrum.

Any more and he would exit a UFA. This is about as long of a prove it deal as you can get.

Dude how is his AAV this low Ik he was hurt but really?

Well the answer to that is simple. He's not close to Jake Sanderson

Drysdale didn't have a ton of leverage given his lack of arbitration rights and unfortunate injury so I'm not giving Verbeek a ton of credit, but this is a super good signing for the Ducks

$6.9 AAV was what I was expecting after what the Sens gave to their young Dmen.

Win for the Ducks.

Good signing for Anaheim, good signing for Drysdale. He'll get paid on his next contract if he fulfills expectations.

If he can come back from his injury, then this is a fine deal. Not great, but fine. Remember, his best year was only 32 points and he on-ice goal differential was 11.1 BELOW expected, so that's not good.

If he can't come back from his injury, but can't go on LTIR, then this deal will be something they will have to bury or buyout before it is done.

That's a lot of risk.

Elliotte Friedman was on NHL radio a few days ago with an interesting take on the Jamie Drysdale situation in Anaheim.

Apparently Drysdale thought he was ready to go at the end of last season. The recovery from his injury was projected to be 4-6 months. Professional athletes generally come in on the lower end of that time frame since they're in such great physical shape. However, Verbeek told him that they were going to err on the side of caution and take the entire 6 months since the season was meaningless anyway. Drysdale was fine with it at the time.

However, what he didn't know (and more importantly wasn't told by Verbeek) was that since he played only 8 games last season and not 10, he doesn't qualify as a full-fledged RFA, but rather as a 10.2(c) player that is ineligible for offer sheets. Had he come back and played in the last two games of the season in April, he would have received the full RFA status.

Supposedly Drysdale wanted a 1-year small money "prove it" deal so he could ask for a bigger payday next season when the cap increases substantially and he had his full Group 2 RFA status. The Ducks used his limited 10.2(c) status against him in negotiations by not even putting a one-year deal on the table, and Drysdale (and other players) are apparently not very happy about it.

If true, then Jamie should be "not very happy about" his agent.

Yea, that sounds like a fishy story to me. Clearly, his agent should have known, and thus Drysdale should have known. I don't buy that story at all.

Also, if the Ducks weren't putting a 1, or even 2, year deal, on the table, then Drysdale should have held out longer. If the Ducks were playing games with his contract, then Drysdale should have been too. Drysdale certainly had leverage...he just wasn't willing to use it, or was happy enough with this offer.

Anyway, the Zegras & Drysdale situations are not a good look for the Ducks. They have the cap space and invested high draft picks in these players. It's going to be interesting to see what these players do the next time they are up for a contract...

This seems awfully long at that paycheck for Drysdale. 1 or 2 years sure. But 3? Well done Anaheim.

Here's the exact quote from Friedman from his 32 Thoughts podcast:

"I heard Ducks are under investigation for the way that Drysdale's injury was handled last season. That's not true. I looked into that and I was told that [there is no investigation]. Anaheim is using its CBA hammer in this case. Drysdale has no rights at all basically and Anaheim is grinding away at him. Drysdale does not want to make a stink about this. He wants to be quiet, get his deal done and get back into play...I've heard that there have been some convos about just how the end of last year went and whether or not he could have played. I don't think Anaheim did anything wrong here, I don't believe they are under investigation but there is a little bit of discontent that could Drysdale have played last year and gotten those two games."

The quote about the one-year contract and other players being unhappy with how the Ducks handled this are from the NHL Radio segment. I'll try and find quotes for those too.

Counterpoint. Norris tried to come back from injury too early and now is suffering complications. A torn muscle isn't something to rush and is something the Anaheim medical staff recently delt with in Max Jones.