Cam York is on his way to have a breakout season for the Philadelphia Flyers. The 24-year-old defenseman is already grading out as one of the best in the entire NHL through the first couple weeks of the 2025-26 season.
It started out as an unknown. York suffered a lower-body injury in preseason that kept him out through the first three games of the season, but since he came back and has played now three games, he appears to be dominant.
Sure, the scoring that we always dreamed of York producing at the NHL level, since he was drafted in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, is starting to appear. His three points in three games is fantastic and it’s incredible that he’s finding success on the power play by just not being afraid that he’s going to be dragged away from special teams after one mistake. But, most likely, that scoring rate is not sustainable unless he’s suddenly going to turn into American Roman Josi — plus he earned all points in one single game against the Seattle Kraken.
It is York’s defensive impact on the game where he is truly standing out.
Among all NHL skaters that have played at least 20 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey this season, York has the third lowest on-ice expected goals against per hour, with a 1.11 xGA/60. That’s a total of 628 players he’s up against and he’s at the very, very top when it comes to preventing both quantity and quality of scoring chances against. Only Ottawa Senators forwards David Perron and Nick Cousins have a lower rate with 0.98 xGA/60 and 0.99 xGA/60 respectively.
And it doesn’t even stop there. Tying in with his expected goals allowed rate, when York is on the ice at 5-on-5, the Flyers are allowing the second-fewest shot attempts per hour. Just 34.71 shot attempts per 60 minutes and a familiar friend in Perron, is the only skater that can claim to be a little bit more preventative.
But when you compare it to even just NHL defensemen, it gets better. To make things super, super simple, here are how York’s on-ice metrics look and where they rank among the 215 blueliners that have played at least 20 minutes this season.
- 1.11 expected goals against per 60 (1st in NHL)
- 34.71 shot attempts against per 60 (1st in NHL)
- 14.34 shots on goal against per 60 (1st in NHL)
- 23.95 unblocked shot attempts against per 60 (1st in NHL)
- 1.14 goals against per 60 (27th in NHL)
While those league-leading numbers look excellent and even elite, what about the other side of the puck? What use is a player who is just suffocating opposing offenses but can’t even generate some scoring in the same shift?
To get a clearer picture, let’s look at how York stacks up in general on-ice percentages and where that ranks among those same 215 defensemen.
- 67.09% of expected goals share (5th in NHL)
- 57.16% of shot attempt share (27th in NHL)
- 60.06% of shots on goal share (17th in NHL)
- 57.17% of unblocked shot attempt share (24th in NHL)
- 64.55% of goals share (54th in NHL)
While it’s not as impressive when it comes to how York is better than every single NHL defensemen in preventing scoring chances against this season, the overall on-ice statistics paint a still-dominant picture. To not only just be above the 50-percent marker but soar well above it and have the Flyers dominate every aspect of the game while York is on the ice so far this season, is a beautiful sight to see.
It most likely won’t keep forever, but the 24-year-old Flyers blueliner is starting out a very important season extremely well.
What this means for rest of York’s season
York needed this start. Not just the three points in as many games to look like he’s fulfilling some sort of pre-determined prophecy, but to look the part of an all-around talent that he has been slowly developing into.
It’s not just by the raw numbers or diving into spreadsheets to prove that York is playing well, but visually, the young defenseman seems so much more steady and comfortable compared to the last few seasons. Maybe it was being coached by John Tortorella, or maybe it is just natural trajectory as he approaches 250 games played in the NHL and is also shouldering an even heavier workload than before.
Now from here, if there is even a slight amount of sustaining this sort of impact, we can start thinking about how much of a bargain that five-year contract extension is with York locked up with just a $5.15-million AAV. But also, how York should be considered a mainstay on this roster and how he will be playing a sizeable role on the next Flyers team to make the playoffs on a regular basis.
We just have to hope that something sticks, and we can truly see a breakout season through the next 76 games.
