Philadelphia Flyers 2024 Top 25 Under 25, No. 3: Cam York

No. 3: Cam York

It’s been a rocky road from maligned prospect to NHL regular for Cam York. For years, in the minds of Flyers fans, York has lived in the shadow of Cole Caufield (and, to an extent, Matt Boldy) as the Flyers traded back from 11 to 14 in the 2019 draft, where they passed on Boldy and Caufield–though they did use the 2nd-round pick they acquired to move up and draft Bobby Brink. The rest is history: Caufield became a premier goal scorer out the gate while York struggled to stick on the club until this most recent season.

Drafting is about the long game, though–not who makes the most immediate impact; in the end, York may end up being as good as or better than Caufield, just in a way we hadn’t expected. One of the biggest disservices done to York was selling him as an “offensive defenseman” when his scoring hasn’t (yet) translated to the NHL. What has been surprising, though, is his how well his defensive play has come around.

2023-24 Primary League/Team: Philadelphia (NHL)
2023-24 Statistics: 10 G, 20 A in 82 GP
Age as of 9/15/2024: 23 (1/5/2001)
Acquired Via: 2019 NHL Draft – Round 1, Pick 14

How did York’s 2023-24 season go? Is his stock trending up or down from where it was entering the year?

York finally stuck in the NHL lineup for the entire season–no stints with the Phantoms, no benchings. Just a full 82-game season on his natural left side. That’s a big step when, to start 2022-23, York had a lousy camp and didn’t make the team–and then when he did come to the NHL, he played the right side opposite Ivan Provorov, which York said he didn’t like. Funnily enough, some of York’s underlying metrics were slightly better when he played his off-side: his expected-Goals percentage at even strength was 50.91 in 2023-24 on his left, and nearly three points higher in 2022-23 while playing the right. Travis Sanheim, York’s most frequent partner, saw a similar boost to his xG% last season playing the right instead of his natural left. I’m no expert, but perhaps having the net on the same side as your stick blade generates more scoring chances, even if it makes it more difficult to maintain the zone?

Anyway, tangent aside, all of York’s numbers trended in the right direction: he set career highs for goals (10), assists (20), and points (30), with 17 of them coming at 5-on-5–and while his xG% and his Goals-for percentage dipped a bit from previous years, his season-long Corsi-for percentage sat above 50 for the first time in his career at 50.44. York also blocked an outrageous 174 shots (the 16th most in the league!), second only to Nick Seeler’s 205 and ahead of Sanheim’s 149 on the Flyers. That’s pretty impressive for a 23-year old averaging over 22-and-a-half minutes per night.

York may be a slow riser, but his stock has increased gradually year-over-year: nothing flashy or highlight reel worthy, just steady improvement bit by bit–and that work resulted in a Pelle Lindbergh for most improved player last season!

What are we expecting from York this season? What should we be looking for from him?

Much to the surprise of many, York is turning into quite a defensive stalwart–not what he was billed as around the 2019 draft, and not what the expectation was when he joined the team. This is a solid development, though some offense would be appreciated.

One theory behind York’s lack of scoring is that his most frequent partner, Sanheim, is far more likely to activate off the blueline–and by the time York would’ve thought to do the same, he’s holding the zone while his partner pinches. There was one game last season, a 1-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings, where Sanheim was out with an illness and York spent the game with Rasmus Ristolainen, a player who decidedly does not activate. Who scored that goal? Why, Cam York, of course! Small sample size (a single game), but York paired with a stay-at-home type helped his offense pop–and maybe there’s more opportunity there in the future, depending what players ultimately join the roster.

The other thing York needs to work on is retrievals and zone exits. He is not good at those, at all.

Woof. Improving his first pass and zone exits would go a long way to maintaining the Flyers’ rush-based style of play, and may also give him a chance to create more offense of his own. Luckily, gaining the offensive zone is something York is pretty successful at.

These charts may make York’s 2023-24 look underwhelming, but they are both significant improvements over the previous season. As stated at the beginning, development is a marathon, not a sprint, and another season of steady improvement is certainly in the cards for York.

How does York fit in the Flyers’ rebuild? Is it likely he’s going to be a part of the next good Flyers team?

Barring any sort of surprise trade, it sure seems like York will be an integral part of the team for the long haul. The organization likes him a lot, he won over John Tortorella, and he was second on the team in average ice time as a 23-year old–he’s got a lot going for him. The Flyers do have several possible top-four defensemen in the system, though, so York will have to continue to prove he deserves a spot here.

What do we think York’s ultimate NHL upside is, and how likely is it that he gets to something approaching that?

A true, all-situations, Number One defenseman is probably out of the cards for York at this point in his career–but he still has the potential to develop into a top-pair caliber d-man. Much like his road to the NHL, however, it’s a long, rocky path to get there. A more likely outcome is that he becomes a very good second-pair player who can be defensively sound if his partner has offensive tendencies, or take the lead and activate while his partner holds the zone.

If none of that works out, maybe he can try a career in dancing.

I would like to be the first on the scene to cover this tiktok of our favorite BRAT, Yameron Cork. Move aside @FlyersAnt @charlieo_conn @PHLY_Flyers @DrEvilGritty pic.twitter.com/0dooHvOXm9
— Scoots McFlier (@NHLFliers) August 21, 2024

Additional stats courtesy Natural Stat Trick

Previously in Philadelphia Flyers Summer 2024 Top 25 Under 25:

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