ANAHEIM, Calif. — Defenseman Jamie Drysdale has agreed to a three-year, $6.9 million contract with the Anaheim Ducks, ending his lengthy absence from the team.
The Ducks announced the deal Thursday before their penultimate preseason game against Arizona. Drysdale is signed through the 2025-26 season.
Drysdale was the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft, and the puck-moving defenseman appeared to be a budding star while scoring 32 points in 81 games for the Ducks as a 19-year-old in the 2021-22 season. But Drysdale missed all but eight games of last season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder suffered during a hit by Vegas’ William Carrier last October.
Drysdale is back to full strength, and he has been training in Toronto while waiting for a new contract.
Drysdale was absent from the Ducks’ training camp along with leading scorer Trevor Zegras while general manager Pat Verbeek hammered out new deals with their representatives. Zegras agreed to a three-year, $17.25 million deal on Monday and reported to the team Tuesday.
Zegras and Drysdale are key components of the Ducks’ young core along with two-time All-Star Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson, the second overall pick in this year’s draft.
The Ducks have missed the playoffs in a franchise-record five consecutive years as they enter a new season under first-year head coach Greg Cronin.