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There is no mistake about it. Cam York is one of the Flyers top prospects, and he made quite the impression with the Flyers this past season. With that being said, it appears there will always be a debate as to who was the better pick for the Flyers with their fan base: Cole Caulfield or Cam York.
Caulfield has had a great playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens. Without him they may not have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. With that being said, that does not mean that York was a bad selection. York has the abilities to be a future quarterback of the power play. This is a player that the Flyers have looked for for the past few seasons, and their power play has been dismal because of such. Been looking at the Flyers overall roster York fills a very specific need at this particular time, as opposed to Caulfield.
In the ranks the Flyers have a forgotten shooter at times in Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink. Each prospect develops at a different rate, but this does not mean that they can’t produce like Caulfield in the future. Make no mistake about it the Flyers need a sharpshooter and Foerster can score goals with the best of them. However, championship winning teams built from the net out. Look at the Canadiens with Carey Price, and their excellent defense as one example.
York played extremely well for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and he seemed to be extremely confident. He scored a beautiful breakaway goal on the Power Play in one of his first games with the Phantoms. York blew past his opponents (Wide Open), and Foerster made a crisp tape to tape stretch pass. York roofed the goal, so get used to hearing and seeing this on the PP in the future for the Flyers.
He was confident, skating well, and York was just so darn good with transitioning from defense to offense. One of the best qualities he possesses on the offensive side of the game is his shot accuracy. He hits the net nine times out of ten. These type of defensemen with game breaking abilities do not grow on trees, especially ones that are solid skaters.
This former Michigan product in York had some expected rust from his first pro game, but he quickly found his niche as he has tallied two goal, and three assists in eight games played, “You ask any hockey player and it seems like once you get out of your routine it is a really tough situation,” York said following his first pro game. “As a hockey player, everything is about having a schedule and a certain routine. When you get thrown out of that for five weeks or whatever it was. It almost felt like I had a little offseason there. It’s just a weird situation to go from playing games at Michigan to having that break and then having to ramp it up again especially at the professional level.”
The young 20-year-old in York provided some nice plays with the man advantage though, for instance, keeping the puck in at the blue line like Shayne Gostisbehere does so well. York uses his good instincts to keep a pucks to extend the power play, which lead to prime scoring chances. He quarter backed Michigan’s top power play unit this past season, and that definitely helped his comfortability.
York keeps tight gap, and he has great vision of the ice. He is confident as he carries the puck up the ice by himself at times. Rarely does York panic when making a decision, and that really sets him above the rest.
In closing, York’s ceiling is a top pairing-middle pairing defenseman, and he has the abilities to be the quarterback of the power play in the future for the Flyers. He has all the talents, so let’s not rush on pinning Caulfield as a better selection at pick 14 over York.
