Cam York making the most of his opportunities early in Flyers training camp

A year ago, Cam York didn’t make the Flyers’ final cuts out of training camp. Now, he has a chance to make his case as the top left-handed defenseman on the team.

A lot changed in that year. York played 54 NHL games after being called up from Lehigh Valley last December. And then Ivan Provorov was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the offseason, Tony DeAngelo’s contract was bought out, and Justin Braun signed to play in Germany — all moves that leave an opportunity for York on the blue line.

“Obviously [Provorov and DeAngelo] leaving, they played big minutes for us. Provy was all situations; Tony was power plays,” York said Friday. “So there’s a lot of roles that are unfilled right now. My goal just during camp is to try and earn some of those situations that those guys had, and try to take that spot.”

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York netted a goal in both of his team’s scrimmages in training camp on Saturday, beating Carter Hart with a snipe from the point in the first game. Though defensive pairings in training camp aren’t to be taken as gospel, he lined up with Rasmus Ristolainen on Saturday, moving back to his natural left-handed side.

Last season, York worked his way into the top pairing alongside Provorov, but was playing on the right side for the first time in his career.

“I would prefer the left for sure,” York said. “But, you know, it’s important to be versatile in this league, and I feel like I can play both pretty well. So definitely just more familiar and comfortable with the left side, but with injuries and stuff, you just never know what the case may be. So I’m prepared for both.”

That York, 22, stands to be in the Flyers top pair again this season reflects what head coach John Tortorella has reiterated: The focus this season will be developing younger players.

“We’re going to have some horror shows some nights with our young back end,” Tortorella said at the beginning of training camp. “But we’re going to work with them.”

Tortorella said he intends to move Travis Sanheim, a left-handed shot who was Ristolainen’s partner in the second pairing last season, to the right side to give York a chance to develop on the left.

“I thought we put [York] in some tough spots by playing him so much in the right toward the end of the year — basically, he was just flipping pucks out,” Tortorella said. “I just didn’t see him play his game on the right side, and I have a bit of responsibility to develop him the proper way too.”

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Garnet Hathaway signed with the Flyers as a free agent over the summer, coming from a Boston Bruins team that set the NHL record for most wins and points in a season to a Flyers squad that had just openly declared it was rebuilding.

Before that, Hathaway had spent 3½ seasons with the Washington Capitals, making the playoffs every year. At 31, he’s one of the oldest players on the Flyers’ roster, and he recognizes the role he’s being asked to step into as a physical bottom-six forward and a veteran leader in the locker room. Hathaway cited Alexander Ovechkin and Patrice Bergeron as two of his former captains from whom he hopes to pick up lessons in leadership.

“I’m trying to learn how those guys do it so well, how they carry themselves so well on the ice and off the ice at the same time,” Hathaway said. “And I want to be asking questions, too. I’ll probably be reaching out to a lot of those guys and see who helped them along the way, what they say.”

Tortorella has had high praise for Hathaway through the first three days of camp.

“Hathaway has impressed me right from the get-go,” he said. “He knows how to do it one way, and that is hard all the time. That’s a big reason why we really zeroed in on him. He will be a great example for some of our kids.”

Ristolainen spent eight weeks of his offseason fulfilling military obligations in his home country of Finland. “It’s a little bit of a different summer for him,” Tortorella said. ... Tyson Foerster, who crashed into the boards during a scrimmage on Friday and seemed to be favoring his right shoulder, was a full participant on Saturday.

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