Flyers’ York Seeing Improvement After Coaching Change

Since the departure of John Tortorella in March of 2025, following a bizarre postgame interview after an embarrassing 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Cam York has started to turn things around. The Philadelphia Flyers defenseman has seen his confidence grow significantly, especially since an off-ice verbal incident between the two following being a healthy scratch.

At the time, York didn’t go into detail about the altercation.

“I’m not going to get into the details of it. I will say this, I take full responsibility for my actions,” York said. “It’s been addressed here in the locker room. It’s something that I’m going to put behind me and move on from. We’ve got eight games left here and that’s my focus right now. We’ll leave it at that.”

York later commented how much he enjoyed being with the team that drafted him back in 2019.

“This is where I want to be,” York said. “I’ve stated that. I love what’s going on here and I love what we’re building. It hasn’t been our [best] year, but it’s here. This is where I want to be, and I’m looking forward to the future.”

Fast forward to the offseason, GM Daniel Briere hired a new coach in Rick Tocchet in May, and shared the same thoughts. York was rewarded with a five-year, $25.75 million contract in July, carrying a $5.15 million AAV.

How has York transitioned to playing from Tortorella to Tocchet? For starters, he’s averaging more ice time in year one under “Tocc” than he ever had for “Torts” with an average of 22:56 time on ice. During Tortorella’s first year as head coach in 2022-23, York averaged only 19:39 of ice time before seeing a big increase to 22:37, and then dropping back down to 20:47. Not only has the ice time increased again in 2025-26, but York has been one of Philadelphia’s most consistent defenseman and plays an important role on the team. He’s also seen an increase of minutes on the power play.

York’s confidence is showing on the ice with the increased minutes, and is making stronger plays with his hockey IQ, speed, and offensive ability to the point where even he’s noticing.

“It’s really nice. Just more puck touches, more opportunity to kind of showcase your skills,” York said in November. “Every opportunity I get, I’m not taking it for granted, and just trying to make the most of it.”

As The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz notes in that same article earlier in the season in November, York had been on the ice for 8 out of the 10 power-play goals at the time for the Orange and Black.

The Flyers have been going through a rough patch of late, losing six straight games. York struggled through the losing streak, including a minus-3 game on Jan. 10 and minus-2 game on Jan. 12 against Tampa Bay, then another minus-3 game on Saturday against the Rangers.

Despite the frustrating losses, there are still plenty of positives to take away from York’s game so far this season. Briere’s faith in York, the new contract he received in the offseason, solidifies the 25-year-old as an important piece for the future. The Flyers are hoping that future includes playoff hockey, possibly as soon as this season.