While most fans of the Philadelphia Flyers are busy counting down the days until the end of the regular season and this dreadful year full of misery has been washed away from our brains, the team is doing other stuff to keep our interest.
On Thursday, the Flyers have recalled defenseman Cam York and goaltender Felix Sandstrom up from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms and on to the taxi squad.
Transactions: We have recalled defenseman Cam York and goaltender Felix Sandstrom to the Taxi Squad. pic.twitter.com/lqK2pY6PFx
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 6, 2021
This essentially means that both players will get some key experience in an NHL practice, which also, both players have had before.
Despite the ink still being wet on York’s entry-level contract, he had a brief couple of days up on the taxi squad before being returned to the Phantoms, where he has remained and kind of dominated.
🚨 York gets in behind the defense, Foerster hits him with a stretch pass, and York beats Copley on the breakaway! pic.twitter.com/n1mxoppvIu
— Brad Keffer (@brad_keffer) May 6, 2021
In his first six games of professional hockey, York has scored two goals and five points. Not a bad tally at all for a 20 year old that is coming off a weird season in Michigan and put right into the thick of a problem COVID-related situation in Lehigh Valley. Beyond the pandemic clouding every single thought about hockey, the young defenseman should certainly be having his big moment soon.
It’s not sure whether or not York will feature on the blue line in the final three games of this Flyers season, but why not? There’s nothing else to play for and you might as well see how the youngster can perform against the Washington Capitals or New Jersey Devils.
On the other side of the transaction coin and in between the pipes, Felix Sandstrom is coming into a goaltending crater. With Carter Hart being sort-of-kind-of the worst goaltender in the league this season and out with an injury, Alex Lyon and Brian Elliott has been your Philadelphia tandem to try and get through these last weeks as quickly as possible.
Drafted way back in 2015, Sandstrom came over to North America full-time in 2019, to try his attempt at establishing himself as a future option behind Hart. This season, the 24-year-old has been moved between Lehigh Valley and the taxi squad a total of nine times, which might be some sort of record.
He has yet to make an NHL appearance.
With the ruling that a team must have three goaltenders between the active roster and taxi squad, and the fact that the Flyers have not technically placed Hart on Injured Reserve, this might play into the same “let’s see what you can do” motif as York. Because why not?
The Flyers face the Capitals tomorrow, so we’ll find out then.
