Flyers Place Jamie Drysdale On IR, Activate Ryan Poehling

The Flyers have placed defenseman Jamie Drysdale on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 9 with an upper-body injury, reports Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 22-year-old will miss the team’s next two games, but there’s no timeline for his return beyond that. His spot on the active roster is going to center Ryan Poehling, who’s coming off IR and will play tonight against the Sharks, per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Drysdale’s first full season with the Flyers hasn’t gotten off to a good start. He’s avoided being scratched, playing in all 15 games to date, but has struggled to produce offensively, with only one goal and two assists. While he is averaging a career-high 20:35 per game, his -10 rating is third-worst on the team, and the Flyers have controlled just 42.7% of shot attempts with Drysdale on the ice at even strength.

Acquired from the Ducks for forward prospect Cutter Gauthier midway through last season, injuries have plagued the once-promising right-shot defender. Shoulder issues have limited him to just 57 games since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.

Few bet on Drysdale ever becoming a two-way dynamo – instead, his offensive prowess and power-play ability led the Ducks to select him sixth overall in the 2020 draft. He flashed that potential in 2021-22, recording 32 points in 81 games as a 19-year-old in his only healthy season. Drysdale has averaged over three minutes per game with the man advantage this year, but it hasn’t led to a resurgence in offensive production. All three of his points have come on the power play.

Drysdale’s injury means the Flyers will be without two of their three top-used defensemen this season tonight against San Jose. Cameron York is close to returning but remains unavailable, Hall reports. He’s also on IR and has been out since Oct. 25 with an upper-body injury. Veteran Erik Johnson will return to the lineup in Drysdale’s place while rookie Emil Andrae takes over as the quarterback on the Flyers’ top power-play unit.

Meanwhile, Poehling returns to action after missing the past few contests with a minor groin injury and for personal reasons. The 6’2″ 25-year-old last played on Nov. 2 against the Bruins. Through 12 appearances this season, Poehling has five assists and a +2 rating. He’s averaging 13:31 per game, a number that will likely increase tonight as he’s set to center the team’s second line between Anthony Richard and Matvei Michkov, the latter of whom will return to the lineup after being scratched for the past two games, the team confirmed. He replaces Morgan Frost, who will be a healthy scratch tonight, according to Hall.

In more minor injury news, goaltender Aleksei Kolosov practiced this morning and is close to returning the lower-body injury that forced the Flyers to dress an emergency backup goaltender against the Lightning last week, per Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports. The newly-promoted 22-year-old has a .863 SV% and a 0-3-0 record through his first three NHL appearances.