Jamie Drysdale has emerged as the poster boy for everything the modern Philadelphia Flyers are: talented hard-workers whose work ethic takes them even further in the NHL.

At the same time, the Flyers need to work to ensure their Leo Carlsson offer sheet escapade doesn't backfire, putting an unprecedented premium on players who have yet to fully prove themselves.

Drysdale, 24, is a restricted free agent in need of a new contract, and he recently filed for salary arbitration, too. That helped the Flyers by preventing any retaliatory offer sheets during the Carlsson saga, but now that this is over, both parties need to switch gears and get down to business.

Possibilities for Drysdale and the Flyers have already been floated numerous times; some reports have indicated a medium-term deal in the range of $6 million annually, and others suggest that Drysdale could earn even more than that.

Regardless, the Flyers must exercise great caution moving forward.

The 2020 No. 6 overall pick would become the Flyers' highest-paid defenseman if he exceeds Travis Sanheim's $6.25 million cap hit.

Defense partner Cam York just signed for $5.15 million annually last summer, and Rasmus Ristolainen has one year remaining on his deal at $5.1 million.

The market is always becoming more expensive, to be clear, but the Flyers can't give Drysdale and his camp an inch and let them take a mile.

The 5-foot-11 blueliner has developed into a solid second-pairing player, but York is the better defender in his own zone, and the biggest difference between the two is that Drysdale has been typecast as a power play quarterback, while York is seldom granted the opportunity with the team's most talented players.

So, the idea of giving Drysdale a contract closer to $10 million annually than $5 million annually can be scary, given that he can't consistently fend off York and Ristolainen for power play minutes on the NHL's worst unit.

This same concept must also be applied to forward Trevor Zegras, who, like Drysdale, filed for arbitration.

The general consensus with Zegras, amongst fans and pundits, is that he and the Flyers will sign a long-term deal worth more than $8 million. That's a respectable price tag, until we get into $9 million or more.

New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier is 10 times the player Zegras is at both ends of the ice and signed a five-year extension worth $11.7 million annually.

In May, St. Louis Blues winger Dylan Holloway signed a five-year extension with an annual cap hit of $7.75 million, and that should serve as the blueprint for Zegras and the Flyers.

Give or take some cash, but keep the term tame to avoid the salary becoming anomalous too quickly; remember, Zegras has never scored 30 goals or 70 points in a season, and just set a new career-high of 67 points in 81 games with the Flyers last year.

The Flyers did the right thing by signing Carlsson to an offer sheet, but the priority going forward is re-signing their own players, and doing so without unforced collateral damage.

After all, the whole appeal for adding Carlsson, aside from his obvious talent, was the fact that the Flyers had many of their best players signed to medium- and long-term deals at reasonable prices. Now is not the time to set that advantage on fire.