Flyers Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: Cam York solid after early setback

It took until December for Cam York to make his season debut in the NHL, but when he did, he was a strong addition on the Flyers' back end.

Cam York was a shoo-in to make the Philadelphia Flyers' roster out of training camp ahead of the 2022-23 season. The young defenseman put together some strong performances to close out the 2021-22 campaign, and with the Flyers lacking depth on the back end, it felt like a no-brainer that York would play a major role in the NHL from the get-go of 2022-23.

Well, that didn't happen.

After an unremarkable preseason, York was surprisingly sent down to play for the Phantoms in Lehigh Valley, where he spent the first two months of the season.

"There are so many god-given abilities he has that other players don't. We want to try to get it. I don't think we got to it," Flyers head coach John Tortorella told the media after York's reassignment to Lehigh Valley.

"This is a young man playing a really important position in our game. This isn't bad. This is process of building a team, and we feel he's gonna be a very important part of this team when we find our way."

The Flyers aren't exactly close to finding their way, but given the current state of the club's blue line, as well as York's strong play when he did eventually earn his spot back in the NHL, it's safe to say he'll be tasked with playing a much bigger role early in the 2023-24 season.

Fans have been eager to watch York play in the NHL since he was a teenager. York, selected in the first round (No. 14 overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, is a smooth-skating offensive defenseman who has drawn comparisons to NHL legend Brian Leetch, so it's easy to understand why fans were disappointed when he didn't start the 2022-23 season with the Flyers.

But York wasn't wasting his time with the Phantoms. On the contrary, he was taking on huge minutes as one of Lehigh Valley's top defensemen — a role that was not available to him in the NHL at the time.

In 20 games with Lehigh Valley, York logged three goals and 13 total points.

"I obviously wanted to make the team out of camp, and I wasn't able to do that. It's not the end of the world, but I wanted to go down kind of with a chip on my shoulder and play really well, and I felt like I did," York told the media during his exit interview.

"Twenty games down there, it felt like I played really good. Did what I needed to do. Playing in all situations helps and kind of just builds your confidence, and it felt like I came up here and tried to do the same thing."

York finally made his season debut with the Flyers on December 9. From there, he didn't allow himself to be sent down again.

York played in all but one of the Flyers' remaining 55 games after he was called up in December, and he ended up being one of the Flyers' better defensemen to close out the season.

The 22-year-old finished the campaign with two goals and 20 total points in 54 games, and from his season debut to the 2022-23 finale, he even ranked second out of all Flyers skaters (minimum 400 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time) with a stellar 53.48 Expected Goals For percentage.

York's impact wasn't isolated to just 5-on-5, though. He also ended up taking on considerable minutes on the power play after supplanting Ivan Provorov as the quarterback on the Flyers' second PP unit. He only managed three power-play points on the season, but eye-popping scoring numbers were never a legitimate possibility for York given the Flyers' complete ineptitude on the man advantage.

With a better supporting cast (and perhaps a bump to the top PP unit after a potential Tony DeAngelo trade), York's numbers on the power play should improve noticeably.

Tortorella still wants to see York be more aggressive as a puck-mover, and that's an area York knows is critical to his development.

"It's something that I try to do every game. Obviously, some games it doesn't work out, and I hear about it," York told the media during his exit interview.

"(Tortorella) is on me often about it, and it's something I try to bring every game obviously. Sometimes it doesn't go my way or I'll make a mistake or a turnover and it doesn't end up well, but it's something that I feel like when I'm playing my best, I am really aggressive, and I think he sees that too."

In a tilt against the Colorado Avalanche, four days after making his season debut, York showed off the skill that makes him such an intriguing young player.

Early in the game, York put a nice move on then-Avalanche forward Dryden Hunt at the blue line before firing a shot toward the net through heavy traffic. His initial shot was redirected, and the puck subsequently pinballed around the crease as members of both teams franticly attempted to gather it. With the puck still loose in the goalmouth, York swooped in and lifted it past Pavel Francouz to give the Flyers an early lead.

That was York's first point of the 2022-23 season, and it was a pretty one.

When York was sent down to Lehigh Valley to start the season, Ivan Provorov was one of the players to send him a text message of reassurance.

Since then, Provorov has been traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and York is one of the likeliest candidates to take on more of his minutes.

York is still young, and he has much to learn before reaching his ceiling. But given his strong play to finish off the 2022-23 campaign, it's hard not to envision him being an integral piece for the Flyers next season and in the foreseeable future.

Verdict:

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.