Cam York signed on to stay in Philly for the next five years, but he doesn't think it will take that long for the Flyers to turn the corner.
"I feel like we're at this stage where we're ready to break out," the defenseman told the local media during a Zoom call on Tuesday after his $25.75 million contract was made official. "Guys are learning, and if everybody continues to try to take that next step and get better and better, I think our team is gonna be a force to be reckoned with."
They're not quite there yet, but they have shown signs.
Two years ago, a Flyers team that was expected to be middling at best instead caught much of hockey by surprise, overachieving and outworking teams to put together an unexpected playoff push that only stalled out at the end.
Last season, there was no more shock factor, and on schedule, the team struggled. But Matvei Michkov came over early and led the rookie goal-scoring race, Tyson Foerster produced his second straight 20-plus goal season in only his second full year in the NHL, and Noah Cates and Bobby Brink thrived as Foerster's relentlessly checking linemates, while overall, the Flyers got younger.
As frustrating as it was to endure at times throughout the past year, the bigger picture was coming into view.
The Flyers got another high-end prospect in winger Porter Martone, and a whole lot bigger and meaner with the NHL Draft late last month. At the same time, other key prospects like Jett Luchanko, Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, and Alex Bump are already in the system and on the way, with Bump potentially knocking on the NHL door now because of the reveal of an infection in Foerster's arm.
Then within the scope of this coming season, the Flyers signed short-term free agents like depth center Christian Dvorak to bridge the gap to those younger names coming up, on top of swinging a low-risk, high-reward trade with Anaheim earlier for Trevor Zegras, in a scenario where they'll suddenly have a top-six level centerman if it does pay off.
"He's just a unique player," York said of Zegras, who already knew him well from their time skating together for Team USA coming up through juniors. "There's guys in the league that have skill, and there's guys that have elite skill, and I would say he's in that elite category."
Cam York had just 17 points last season, but still averaged more than 20 minutes of ice time per game.
General manager Danny Brière has been slowly assembling the pieces, and new head coach Rick Tocchet is coming in now to work toward forming it all together.
"You look at our young core, like it's a really good group of guys, and a really skilled group of guys, and I think if you add Tocc into the mix there, I think he's gonna be a great fit for our team," York said. "He's gonna be able to take us to that next level and get to where we want to be, and that's obviously in the playoffs."
They still might not be there quite yet. The roster, as it stands now, is still under construction, especially down the middle and in goal, while the organization waits for a good bit of cap room to free up next summer.
But the Flyers are showing signs, and York will play a key role now in proving how substantial those really are.
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Much like the majority of the team, York struggled last season, specifically through injury, inconsistency, and boiling tensions between himself and former coach John Tortorella until it all came to a head with Tortorella's firing and a full-game benching of York right after for disciplinary reasons.
But even through all of it, the 24-year-old still took up 20-plus minutes a night, and isn't considerably far removed from a solid 2023-24 campaign, when he put up 30 points and seemed to figure out his game on the top defensive pairing left of Travis Sanheim.
York's skill didn't go anywhere, neither did the case that he can be, at minimum, a dependable top-four blueliner well into the Flyers' future, and the argument is there that he can tap back into all of it with a clean slate under Tocchet and assistant defensive coach Todd Reirden – maybe with some power play time again, too.
But those have been signs for him and the Flyers. It's getting time for them to start making more of it.
"I think earning the trust of Tocc is going to be important for me early on," York said. "Like every player with a first-year coach, you gotta earn his trust, and then obviously, the opportunities are gonna come for you.
"But you gotta play hard and do the little things to earn the trust, and I think that's gonna be a big thing for me."
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