Drafting Cam York Was the Right Call by Flyers
When Cam York was drafted by the Flyers with the 14th overall pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft, it’s safe to say that most Flyers fans were disappointed by the selection.
The majority wanted the team to select goal-scoring machine Cole Caufield who had 72 goals in 64 games with the U.S. National Under-18 team in 2018/19.
To most fans, winger Cole Caufield was like the double chocolate lava cake on the dessert menu, and defenseman Cam York was the fruit and cheese plate that no one wanted at the moment.
I’ll be honest in the fact that I had little knowledge of Cam York before his name was called, but all I knew was it wasn’t Cole Caufield.
Most of the fanbase including myself wasn’t thrilled with what the recently hired Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher had done.
Well, I will be the first to raise my hand and say that I was wrong, and Chuck made the right decision.
Cam York had a great freshman season at the University of Michigan notching 16 points (5 G, 11 A) in 30 games and recording a +/- of 9, along with a selection to the U.S. 2020 World Juniors roster. In his sophomore season at Michigan, he currently has 5 points (2 G, 3 A) in 8 games, and was recently selected again to represent the U.S. for the 2021 World Juniors roster. Now to be fair, Cole Caufield has put the NCAA on notice recording 36 points (19 G, 17 A) in 36 games for the University of Wisconsin and currently has 12 points (6 G, 6 A) in 10 games for the Badgers this season.
Cole Caufield was a teammate of York’s on the U.S. 2020 World Juniors roster and will also be teammates again for the 2021 World Juniors.
Cam York has quickly become one of the best defenseman prospects in the league and the most electric prospect in the Flyers pipeline at the moment. The Flyers have a lot of defensive talent on the team currently with Provorov, Sanheim, Myers, and Gostisbehere but, no one should complain when a transformative power-play presence like Cam York inserts himself into the picture. If I learned anything from the 2019/20 NHL season, it is that having young defensemen like Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes can elevate your team to the next level.
Now, no one can say that Cam York will turn into Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes, but the confidence level of Cam York becoming a top-pair defenseman in the next couple of years has skyrocketed.
Cam is the perfect type of defenseman for today’s NHL, and even though Cole Caufield is an elite goal-scoring prospect, he is limited by his height as he’s only 5’7, and his limited defensive abilities.
Yes, scoring goals is kind of critical to be successful in the sport of hockey but, the Winnipeg Jets have not exactly been competing for a ton of Stanley Cups with Patrik Laine, especially with their holes at defense. So I do wish Cole Caufield the absolute best and hope he has a very long NHL career and the occasional poor offensive games against the Flyers.
Overall, Chuck Fletcher should be sleeping well at night knowing that he picked a stud when he selected the 5’11 defenseman from Anaheim, California who will put the whole hockey world on notice in Edmonton, Alberta when carries the United States to a gold medal in the 2021 World Junior championship.
Featured Image: ---
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Flyers