Drysdale has been the Gulss #1 D. Question is still out if he is the offensice catalyst, but he manned the PP quite well it seemed. Just not flashy, but I think long term he might not challenge league D scoring.
The offense surrounding Drysdale is based upon his junior and under production.
2017-18, GTHL U16: GP = 57; 8g + 42a = 50 pts; PPG = 0.877
2018-19, OHL: GP = 63; 7g + 33a = 40 pts; PPG = 0.635; +/- = -24
2019-20, OHL: GP = 49; 9g + 38a = 47 pts; PPG = 0.959; +/- = +9
In interviews for the draft, Drysdale has been trying to prove that he isn't just an offensive defenseman. Guess there's a stigma to him being called an offensive defenseman, which is you can't play defense well. We have seen videos of Drysdale going to defenseman camps to improve this defense so that Drysdale can be trusted in situations late in games to score a goal to tie up the game or to prevent a goal to keep a lead. Between his two OHL seasons, Drysdale has improved his plus/minus rating tremendously while improving his scoring.
I guess his defense is so much better that his offense takes a back seat, which we witnessed in the WJC's as he was paired with F Bowen Byram as his blue linemate. Seriously, Byram played 4th forward so much and Drysdale often hung back to cover everyone else.
It's a new environment for Drysdale. He's an 18-year old playing top pairing in the AHL. That should speak volumes in itself. He's third on the team in scoring with 4 points in 4 games (1g, 3a), which is 1.0 ppg. That's a for a small sample, but Drysdale's offensive production hasn't hit over 1.0 ppg in juniors. He ranked 94th in OHL scoring last year, with several defenseman ahead of him and the highest scoring defenseman had 82 points. Maybe it's unfair to have astronomical expectations that Drysdale's offense will be that will be vying for #1D scoring in the NHL?
I really don't know what more to expect from an 18-year old defenseman in the AHL playing top pairing aside that he's proving some of us correct that he might be vying for the #1 Ducks prospect ranking. But I think the reason Sanderson went ahead of Drysdale was due to Sanderson's flashier game compared to Drysdale's subtle game. Sanderson has booming hits and big time celebrations when he scores. Drysdale just neutralizes forwards and his scoring is just as subtle. Like I didn't realize he has 4 points already because we're so hung up on Zegras leading the team in scoring. I'm grateful Sanderson went ahead b/c I thought Drysdale was always a top-5 pick and we had missed out on the opportunity because we slid down one in the draft.