Philadelphia Flyers sign free agent defenseman to $26M deal

The $6.5 million average annual value slots him just above Travis Sanheim's $6.25 million. That makes the 24-year-old the highest-paid defenseman on Philadelphia's blue line.

It is a raise from his $2.3 million bridge deal and a clear statement of belief. Drysdale posted eight goals and 32 points across 78 games while logging north of 21 minutes a night under Rick Tocchet.

General manager Danny Briere earmarked cap room for this weeks ago, right after landing Trevor Zegras on a four-year, $36.5 million extension. Both signings check the same box on his summer list.

He arrived in the Cutter Gauthier trade, sold low by Anaheim, and Philadelphia bet the former sixth overall pick had another gear. This deal is that bet turning concrete.

Look at the term, not the dollars.

Briere bought zero unrestricted years on either cornerstone.

Zegras walks to free agency on July 1, 2030. Drysdale, at 28 with far more than seven pro seasons banked, reaches the open market that very same summer.

That symmetry is a bet by both players on themselves, cashing in at peak value rather than trading years away cheaply in a rising-cap league. It also hands Philadelphia a single offseason where its two best investments could hit the market together.

The rising cap is rewriting these negotiations, pushing young stars toward shorter terms that reach unrestricted free agency at their peak. Philadelphia is the latest club to pay that premium instead of buying the discount.

Matvei Michkov's second contract lands in the same window. The Flyers' contending window and their cap reckoning may arrive on the exact same date.

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