Flyers’ Cam York expected to make season debut Thursday after being activated from injured reserve

The writing was on the wall, and now it is official: Cam York will be back in the lineup Thursday night.

As the blueliner skated during the Flyers’ optional skate in Voorhees, coach Rick Tocchet said York would “give me the thumbs up or thumbs down after,” before adding, “I assume probably, but I’ll wait till he gives me his nod.”

York was not made available after Thursday’s morning skate, but the team announced at 12:30 p.m. that the defenseman has been activated off injured reserve. As a team source confirmed to The Inquirer on Wednesday, Emil Andrae was loaned to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to make room for York.

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York, 24, went on injured reserve on Oct. 6 with a lower-body injury, two days after playing more than 25 minutes in the preseason finale. He did not speak after the game as he was getting treatment, which is a common occurrence.

Although York did not make the Flyers’ first road trip, he has been a full participant since the morning skate on Monday. York did not skate for an extended time on Thursday, but Egor Zamula — who was a healthy scratch on Monday — did go for quite a while, skating wind sprints at the end with the other healthy scratches, Nic Deslauriers and Rodrigo Ābols.

“You don’t go crazy and overplay him, but I think you put him back in the fire,” Tocchet said about integrating York back into the lineup. “You don’t try to protect a player; you’ve got to throw him right in [into] some good situations. I don’t know how much he’ll play tonight, but he’s going to get his minutes, and we want him to drive the play.

“He’s been out a week, so I don’t think it’s too much rust.”

Part of managing York’s minutes likely means that he will not be on the power play to start. Travis Sanheim remained the point man Wednesday for the second unit that also includes Noah Cates, Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, and Trevor Zegras.

Skating this week, York was back alongside his usual partner, Sanheim, who said the Californian is a good puck mover, can kill plays, and has a good stick. They have become a formidable pair, playing against the opposition’s top lines, which Sanheim noted they enjoy.

But they also play a lot of minutes, with Sanheim recalling with a laugh, “I told him to be ready for big minutes, if and when he’s back.”

York is expected to have a big season as he plays a freer game under the new coach. He showcased good puck movement and high-end skating in the preseason.

“I don’t know about the rust, but I know that he’s had a really good camp [and] came in in really good shape,” Tocchet said. “Real mobile guy. What I liked about him in camp, and even in some of the exhibition games, he was actually trying to stop on the blue line. There’s a lot of movement. ... We want him to make plays at the blue line, and I’m seeing that. So he’s got a lot of confidence to do that.”

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The same forward lines will go Thursday against the Winnipeg Jets (7 p.m., NBCSP), which means that Jett Luchanko and Nikita Grebenkin remain in. ... Sam Ersson will start in net as the Flyers continue to rotate goalies.

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