As a history teacher, one of the things I try to impress on my students is the importance of time in evaluating the past and how it relates to the present. Despite our usual capacity to make snap judgements and form quick opinions, you really need to look at things through the lens of time. Leaders and events look different five or ten years later, after you've had time to step away and see how they have rippled out.
Sports are no different. It takes a while to step back and fully see how things pan out, for better or for worse. It will take a while to see how a player has developed or how a coach has affected a team. A great example of this is to review Marcello's DeFeo's recent series on the history of the Flyers' coaches.
It is in this light that we need to examine young defender Cam York. After all, he will be an RFA this offseason. There has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not the Flyers ought to re-sign him, for how long, or if they should move him while he still has some value as a former first round pick.
York’s History in Philly
York was a first round pick in 2019, 14th overall. As with a lot of top prospects, he saw some playing time at the tail end of the losing seasons starting in 2020-21 as the Flyers missed the playoffs (a trend that continues to this day). Due to injuries, and to see what the Flyers had, York was called up permanently in December 2022 and immediately shone bright. He played in 54 games, scored two goals, had 18 assists, and was a -1 on a team that just fired it's head coach (Alain Vigneault).
When John Tortorella came on board the following season, York seemed to embrace the opportunity. He flourished under his new head coached. He scored 10 goals with 20 assists being paired up with guys like Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Erik Johnson. There was hope that he could quarterback the power point. He ended up being third on the team in assists on the man advantage.
This year, something happened. The ongoing discussion has been how much of it was him and how much of it was his head coach. In the end, we don't know. We can say he stagnated. He scored just four goals this season. That was a far cry from 10 the year before. His 17 points are just under half of what it was the year before. He was benched often and injured early in this season.
The case for keeping York
York is only 24. Granted, at some point, his youth will cease to be an excuse for how he plays. After all, he is not a novice to hockey, having played it for years. He is still raw, however. Sometimes it takes young players, especially defenders, extra time to figure out how to play at the NHL level. The pace of the game, plus the higher quality of players and competition, can take a while to adjust to. Remember, once upon a team, there were calls to dump Sanheim.
If it is believed that Tortorella negatively affected his growth, perhaps new head coach Rick Tocchet can unlock the player that the Flyers selected. York could be that guy who quarterbacks the power play. He could be the guy who transitions the team from being in the defensive zone to attacking on the offense.
With some maturity, he can cut down on sloppy passes and turnovers. In time, he can become a better, rangy defenseman. After all, there are some things he does well. He doesn't put the team down a man in the penalty box, just 26 penalty minutes this season. Despite playing in 66 games, he still set a career high in takeaways (25) and could've done the same with hits (60). He is growing and learning. It could be that the best is yet to come.
The case for trading York
However, the opposite is also true. Yes, Tortorella could be testy with his players, but he knows how to get a lot out of them. He pushes them, perhaps unfairly at times, but if you work with him, he can unlock something. He was able to help get improvement out of Sanheim, Travis Konecny, Nick Seeler, and Noah Cates. In his first season, he got a lot of York.
Then this year happened. Yes, York got injured and it probably took a while for him to find his feet again. And while he set some career highs in positive categories, he also tripled his career high in giveaways from 32 to 90 in one season. That is considering he missed 16 games due to injury and benchings. Then there was the incident with Tortorella that sealed his coach's fate and earned him a healthy scratch.
It could be that York just stopped maturing. He didn't want to listen to his coach. The conflict with his coach shows a lack of respect, despite Tortorella’s feistiness. That's not a good example for younger players to see and/or follow. A bad apple in the cart (clubhouse) might have to be thrown away.
Tocchet will have to see, with Daniel Briere, whether or not York is worth keeping around. Are his offensive metrics worth the hassle to see if he can improve? Have we seen the best out of him? It also will matter if the team feels that one of the younger prospects (Helge Grans, Emil Andrae, Oliver Bonk) are ready to permanently take his sport on the roster or if a free agent acquisition is a better fit.
If we have seen the best, trading him now is the best option. Fast skating defenders are always in style. Right now, York is cheap and extendable. He could be had for the right price. Now, whether that price is a draft pick somewhere in the first three rounds, a player to be moved (goalie, forward), or part of a Flyers package that includes draft picks to snag a veteran player would have to be determined. York is probably at his most tradeable now. It would be the time to strike while the iron is hot. And if some team wants to snag him as an RFA, I'll gladly take the draft picks.
Conversely, if the team sees that the best is still to come, signing him longer term is the right move. Whether it is a short-term two-to-threeayear bridge deal in the $2.5-$3 million range (he is currently earning $1.6 million) or whether it would be his first long term deal, five to six years, would have to be established. We would hope that Briere wouldn't follow the precedent set by previous Flyers' GMs and start hampering this team with bad long term expensive contracts that are about as easy to move as a beached whale.
Honestly, this is really up to York. If he wants to commit himself to his team and his new coach, he'll stick around. If he can't do that, Briere can find him a home somewhere else. We'll have to see what happens in the next few weeks.