He will be major for Anaheim's growth this season!
The Anaheim Ducks will enter the 2023 NHL season with a ton of young talent on their roster. They added to that this summer in the NHL Draft, but even before then, the Ducks held some very interesting pieces within the organization.
From Trevor Zegras to Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, and Mason McTavish, Anaheim is set up well for the future. But there is one player that seems to be forgotten about at times despite having a major impact on the team. That would be defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
Drysdale missed most of the season last year due to injury. He played in eight games in total, so people may have forgotten about him. But he enters 2023 determined to get back on track and show what he can do.
The former first-round pick back in 2020 has shown some real flashes of promise during his limited time. In 2021-2022, he scored four goals and had 28 assists across 81 games played. For a defenseman, he is active on the offensive side of the ice and can also be a top-line player for this team.
Adam Gertz of Bleacher Report named every NHL team's biggest secret weapon for the coming season, and Drysdale was listed for Anaheim.
"He will be back this season with an opportunity to not only make a big impact, but also show that he is going to be a cornerstone player for the Ducks long-term.His NHL track record to this point is very limited, but he has shown flashes of being a top-pairing defenseman. The Ducks need somebody like him to make a big leap on defense, and if he does it could be a significant game-changer for the Ducks' rebuild to put that behind their young forwards"
If Drysdale can come back healthy this season, he should be a force to deal with once again. The team should be better with another year of experience and the added veterans to the lineup. Drysdale will be one to follow this year as the team looks to see if he can replicate or add to the success he saw prior to his injury.