Earlier in the day it was reported that the Philadelphia Flyers recalled defenseman Cam York from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and in a subsequent move they have sent down Egor Zamula.
York will be accompanying the Flyers on their upcoming four game road trip that starts on Friday in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights, that continues into Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche, and it will finish off in New Jersey next Thursday.
York seemed like a lock to make the NHL roster after the end of the 2021-22 season and things didn’t look any different heading into training camp. However, he didn’t have the greatest showing and newly-minted head coach John Tortorella and Chuck Fletcher ended his training camp early by sending him to the minors. He wasn’t ready, he wasn’t making the same reads or the same plays he’s accustomed to making, and it just seemed like he was going with the flow. Tortorella was adamant about changing the culture and the identity on and off the ice and it started with making the difficult decisions.
The Flyers wanted to see him do more, be more assertive, and play his brand of hockey that got him drafted in the early portion of the first round in 2019. In 13 games with the Phantoms, York has scored 3 goals and added 10 assists in 13 games and is looking to improve on his 30-game season with the Flyers from last year where he scored 3 goals and 10 points.
Egor Zamula has appeared in 11 games this season with the Flyers, chipping in with 2 assists and averaging 13:45 of ice time. He was relegated to bottom pair defending with either Nick Seeler or Justin Braun, found himself as a healthy scratch at times, but showed enough talent for a raw prospect who still needs to fill out his 6’5”, 185 pound frame.
As for whether or not he makes his way into the lineup remains to be seen, but the Flyers have rotated and used Justin Braun sparingly in practice a few times. The Flyers haven’t had much depth on the back-end this year and York’s arrival will make things interesting ahead of this four-game road trip. The Flyers need more youthful injection on the team, on their backend, and just in general.
Another puck moving, offensive minded defenseman wouldn’t hurt as they currently sit 29th in the NHL in total goals scored and are dead last in goals per game at 2.41.
