Cam York returns to lineup for Flyers’ rematch with Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Flyers are getting an early present for the holidays.

Cam York will return to the lineup on Sunday when the Flyers take on the Carolina Hurricanes (5 p.m., NBCSP).

“Play a simple game early. That’s the way you get back in the game, I think,” coach Rick Tocchet said about the defenseman who has missed four games. “So hopefully, he just does whatever the first pass is, makes the first pass, and just lets the game come to you.”

York has been out with an upper-body injury since Dec. 3, suffered against the Buffalo Sabres. The exact moment when the injury occurred has not been revealed, but he did not return after being involved in a scrum following Trevor Zegras being boarded by Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin with 3 minutes, 10 seconds left in the second period.

» READ MORE: Flyers give up early lead, suffer first shootout loss of the season to Carolina Hurricanes

It’s also possible that the high hit by Buffalo forward Jason Zucker behind the Flyers’ net with 13:50 left in the period is what Tocchet referred to postgame. The hit was a little late as the blueliner skated back for the puck.

“He’s going to have a really hard practice today,” Tocchet said about York at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday before the Flyers lost in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights. “Not hitting, but like a lot of pushing and shoving on the ice, and see how he reacts off it. I think this is the day we’ll know how close he is to playing.”

And it looks like he’s good to go.

York will be back alongside Travis Sanheim, with Nick Seeler dropping back to the third pairing with Noah Juulsen. Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae remain as the second pair.

Ty Murchison, who made his NHL debut Dec. 9 in the Flyers’ win against the San Jose Sharks, will come out of the lineup. A fifth-round pick in 2021, the 22-year-old looked steady on the blue line while averaging 15 minutes of ice time and earning a plus-minus of plus-1.

“It’s huge,” Tocchet said of York coming back to stabilize the defense before adding unprompted: “It’s really organizational depth when you’ve got a guy like Murchison comes up and plays well for us.”

At the time of his injury, York was averaging 23:31 a night, ranking him 25th in the NHL. Sanheim was fifth at 25:16 with 11 points in 26 games and is one second more in the four games without his partner, notching three assists.

According to Money Puck, Sanheim and York are among only 31 pairs in the NHL that have skated at least 300 minutes together. Although they rank 29th in expected goals for (12.9), they are tied for seventh with the Washington Capitals’ Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy in expected goals against (14.1) while playing against the league’s top lines.

There’s been a ripple effect without York as Drysdale went from 21:34 to 22:45, Andrae from 16:16 to 21:41, and Seeler from 19:09 to 22:04 alongside Sanheim. York should help balance that out — and could help the power play.

“Yeah, 100%,” Tocchet said when asked about that. “We got Sanny, himself, and [Drysdale] and put Emil on the second unit. So we’re looking for somebody to step up. York is a guy who, early on with, especially with Trevor [Zegras], they had some chemistry, so, yeah, we’re looking at all options.”

In his 23 games this season, York has one goal and 12 points, with his lone goal and six points on the power play. The Flyers’ power play is tied for 23rd in the NHL with the Nashville Predators, and it has scored 14 times this season, tied for the third fewest in the league.

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is also on the road trip, and Tocchet again added that “Risto is coming [back] soon, so going to add two quality good depth.” … Goalie Dan Vladař will start in goal for the Flyers. It is his first game against the Hurricanes this season.