Ducks defenseman Jamie Drysdale out 4-6 months with shoulder injury

What a blow for the Anaheim Ducks.

The team has announced that defenseman Jamie Drysdale will be out for the next 4-6 months after suffering a torn labrum in his left shoulder on Friday against Vegas.

The Ducks said Drysdale will undergo surgery in the near future.

The injury should mark the end of Drysdale’s season, with the Ducks not expected to make the playoffs. Anaheim currently sits last in the Western Conference with a 2-6-1 record, with Drysdale missing Sunday’s victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Drysdale had been a fixture in Anaheim’s top four, averaging 17:37 through eight games. He failed to record a point in that span, but the NHL sophomore had been showing a comfort level he missed at times as a rookie last year. Drysdale has seven goals and 40 points over 113 career games since getting drafted sixth overall in 2020.

Drysdale, 20, missed significant development time in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 impacting the OHL. He split time between Anaheim and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls before earning a full-time spot with the Ducks in 2021-22.

The Ducks already have defensemen Urho Vaakanainen and John Moore on injured reserve. With Drysdale out, the Ducks are looking at a top four of John Klingberg, Cam Fowler, Kevin Shattenkirk and Dmitry Kulikov.