Flyers' Projected Extension Numbers For Zegras & Drysdale Revealed

Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, aside from being teammates with the Philadelphia Flyers, have a lot in common. They are each in their sixth NHL seasons, have each had big breakout years for Philly, and they are both restricted free agents as of July 1.

And of course, one more thing they'll have in common: The Flyers will have to pony up on new extensions for each of them this summer.

Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff has revealed what the Flyers feel each player is worth on those impending new contracts.

Zegras has earned himself a nice long-term extension

Let's start with Zegras, who is on pace to set career highs in goals (he's at 22, one shy of his personal best). At 56 points, he could come close to his high of 65 points, with 12 games still to play. He's wrapping up a three-year, $5.75M AAV deal.

The key is that he still has two more seasons after this one before he's eligible for UFA status. That could keep his number down by a bit, explains Di Marco.

According to sources, the team feels Zegras’ RFA years’ AAV should hover around his current $5.75 million...
As a UFA, Zegras would likely get an AAV that falls somewhere in the neighborhood of $9 million to $9.5 million... (Therefore) an AAV somewhere in the $7.5 million to $8.5 million range would likely be the right landing spot for Zegras on a long term contract.

But Di Marco also speculates that Zegras could choose to go with a two-year bridge deal, allowing him to cash in at a much larger number in unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2028.

Drysdale having breakout season, expected to get nice raise as RFA

For the breakout defenseman Drysdale, one year younger than Zegras, he also has two RFA years still to run. Di Marco says that the Flyers view Drysdale as their fourth most valuable defenseman, and want to keep his AAV below that of the trio of Travis Sanheim ($6.25M), Cam York ($5.15M) and Rasmus Ristolainen ($5.1M).

According to sources, Drysdale’s RFA dollar value is somewhere in the $3 million to $4 million range. Reading the tea leaves, the Flyers don’t seem to be as eager to go long term with Drysdale as they are with Zegras.
Based on conversations with sources, the Flyers would like to keep Drysdale’s overall AAV under that of fellow defenseman Cam York’s $5.15 million. On a five-year deal, Drysdale could land a flat amount of $25 million to carry an even $5-million AAV.

Unless either of Zegras or Drysdale come to the table with unreasonable demands, it seems that the Flyers have a grasp on how they'll handle these two important negotiations this summer.