PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 09: A view of the locker room of the Philadelphia Flyers prior to Opening Night against the San Jose Sharks on October 9, 2018 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
Cam York can and will shoot from anywhere, but York will do it accurately in the same token. If a Defenseman has the guts to stand in the way of his hard wrist shot…good luck, or better yet…good riddance. Fletcher snagged York 14th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft to help aide the Flyers with the Power Play in the future, and to replace the possible loss of a defenseman to the expansion draft following the 2020-21 season. This young Flyers team seems destined for success in the future, with all the young budding prospects to include Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, German Rubtsov, Bobby Brink, Isaac Ratcliffe, Wyatte Wylie, Linus Sandin, and Tanner Laczynski. Of course, now we can add Noah Cates to the mix of budding young prospects, as he may make his NHL debut within the next few years, but first Let’s break down the game of York first.
Cam York
It’s hard to believe but York has elevated his game from last season with the Michigan Wolverines. This young budding prospect has tallied 1g,3a in seven games played, however, he has been precise with his shot from the point and the way he carries the puck from the neutral zone to the offensive zone.
York has just been so confident with the puck he has made some crazy crisp tape to tape passes, and has stifled his opponents at the blueline. York hasn’t registered a point in the last four games played, but he has played solid hockey in all four games. Out of the last four games I would say York’s weakest game was against Notre Dame last Saturday night in a 2-1 loss. Even with a so-so game from York he still doesn’t look like the worst player on the ice.
The bread and butter to York’s game will come, and that is Quarterbacking the Power Play. He had a beautiful hard wrist shot saved in the early stages of the first period last night against Penn State with the man advantage, but Penn State’s Goaltender Oskar Autio made a dandy save to keep the score 1-0 in favor of Michigan.
This young prospect in York is like a human shield. He blocked four shots last night, and he reminds me of Flyers star Defenseman Ivan Provorov with his willingness to stand in front of blasts, while sacrificing all parts of your body to help out the netminder.
York will be teaming up with Team USA here shortly, as he made the preliminary team for Team USA. He should make the team easily.
Noah Cates
Cates is really shining as a first line Center for the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. He has won 23 of 42 faceoffs (FO), which is good enough for a 54.7 FO%. Cates is a versatile player that can play both wing and center.
Noah has taken his game to another level this season, as he just appears to be hitting his stride both offensively and defensively. Cates has registered 1g,2a in two games played, as he tallied his lone goal off a deflection from Nick Swaney. Originally the goal was awarded to Swaney, but eventually it was fixed properly.
Cates is an intelligent player that doesn’t possess the fastest speed. He won’t kill you with speed, but Cates gets to the dirty areas to pot big goals. Cates just knows where to be and when, and then takes advantage of the opportunity that he is given. If a player gives him space, then Cates will do damage to the opposing netminder. Cates in my opinion will be a solid bottom six player in the NHL.
Flyers Prospect Report Continued:
I have high hopes for Noah Cates as a future Flyer! As for Can York, i believe he will become a great top four defense-man, but we have now and will have in near future a logjam at left side of our defense! So we must make trade or trades to upgrade our right shot defenders in our prospect pool, which we lack currently! And do it at expense of left side defenders, which we have plenty to trade from!
Noah Cates has been impressive since Ron Hextall drafted him. He’s going to be a nice fit for the Flyers in a couple of years, probably starting his career as a 4th line wing. As for York, forget about him playing in Philly. He’s too small to play defense in the NHL.