Report Offers Major Updates On Zegras, Drysdale RFA Talks

With the Anaheim Ducks deciding to match their offer sheet for Leo Carlsson, the Philadelphia Flyers still have $29 million in salary cap space burning a hole in their pocket. They will be handing a chunk of that money to their two big remaining restricted free agents, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. 

But with both players having arbitration hearings set for the second half of this month, will they come to agreements before that or will they be letting a third-party decide? With more financial certainty now that the Carlsson affair is over, it appears that Zegras & Drysdale have become the front office's focus.

According to Flyers beat writer Bill Meltzer, the Flyers will have extensions done for both of their key RFAs within about a week. 

From two org sources. Flyers expect both the Zegras and Drysdale contracts to be hammered out ahead of arbitration. Don't anticipate either going to a hearing.

— Bill Meltzer (@billmeltzer) July 14, 2026

Meltzer says organizational sources tell him that both contracts will be done "ahead of arbitration." Drysdale's hearing is set for six days from now, on July 20th, while Zegras's is lined up for July 22.

Of course, the numbers will likely be a fair bit higher than they might have been before the team's mind-blowing $18M AAV offer sheet for Carlsson. 'If you have that much available to give a player who hasn't even been with our program, what are we worth?' they might be asking. 

For what it's worth, AFP Analytics projected an $8.2M AAV on a five-year deal for Zegras, and Drysdale a $7.2M AAV on a six-year term. Those projections were made long before the Carlsson offer sheet. 

Both players were ironically acquired from the Ducks. Zegras came aboard last season, and the center posted a career year, with 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games. Drysdale, who came to Philly, tied his career-high with 32 points, while logging a personal best 21:33 average time on ice across his 78 games.