After Cam York contract, are the Flyers done for the offseason?

New York Times

07-07-2025

After inking restricted free agent defenseman Cam York to a five-year, $25.75 million deal on Monday ($5.15 AAV), Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere has nimbly taken care of what was the only obvious bit of pending business.
As reported here previously, it was a drawn-out process with York. After his breakout 2023-24 season, there were talks toward the beginning of last season that broke down fairly quickly. When the club agreed to extensions with pending RFAs Tyson Foerster on May 29 and Noah Cates on June 11 — and York was left unsigned — it fueled speculation that York, who had an up-and-down 2024-25 for a few reasons, might be dangled as trade bait for a roster upgrade elsewhere.
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Instead, the door still remains wide open for the 24-year-old to establish himself as key part of the future.
There are no guarantees that will happen. The Flyers left themselves some flexibility here, as the deal doesn't include any trade protection (per a team source) despite them buying two seasons of what would have been unrestricted free agency for York. But there may not be a player on the Flyers' roster that is more looking forward to the coaching change to Rick Tocchet than York, who never really seemed to see eye-to-eye with John Tortorella and whose heated argument with the coach during a game in Toronto hastened Tortorella's firing two days later on March 27.
As York said on getaway day after last season, once Brad Shaw took over on an interim basis, 'I able to play with a bit more freedom. Maybe not gripping the stick as tight. As a player, that's everything, in a way. It felt good to kind of get back to that, and have that mindset.'
It stands to reason that a new five-year deal should help that mindset, too.
If Briere is done for the summer, he's seemingly accomplished what he consistently said he set out to do — improve the team for the immediate future, while maintaining flexibility for the 2026 offseason. Yes, it's quite possible that the Flyers have already hit 'rock bottom' in their rebuild, as Briere said he was hopeful was the case in his comments immediately after Tortorella was let go.
There are reasons for optimism they could start to turn a corner.
The dreadful power play, 30th in the NHL last season and last for the previous two, will get some fresh eyes with Tocchet and assistant coach Yogi Svejkovsky. Tocchet, especially, has had success coaching power plays in the past. Unlike with Tortorella and former assistant coach Rocky Thompson, there should be more of a teaching element on the power play from the new staff.
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The center depth is improved. No doubt that Christian Dvorak's one-year, $5.4 million deal is an overpay, but it was a necessary one considering how desperate the Flyers were for another pivot. To clarify: the Flyers didn't sign Dvorak with the idea of flipping him at the trade deadline. While that can always happen if the team ends up being terrible, Briere has made it clear in some of his comments that he owes it to the players who have been on the team for a few years now (think Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny) to try and make a run at the playoffs. Both the Flyers and Dvorak agreed to this deal under the assumption that he will be around for the duration (and Dvorak, according to a source close to the player, is looking forward to playing for Tocchet again, too).
There is more elite skill. That's in the form of Trevor Zegras, of course, whose YouTube highlight reel is as dazzling as anyone's in the league. Briere was universally praised for the deal, as he didn't have to surrender that much to acquire Zegras, who may simply need a change in scenery to resume a career that looked to be on the cusp of stardom. Even a return to Zegras' previous career high of 65 points would be a home run, especially if it comes with him skating in the middle of one of the top two lines, as is his and the team's preference.
The league-worst goaltending has nowhere to go but up. Dan Vladar probably isn't going to be in the running for the Vezina Trophy anytime soon, with a career save percentage of .895, but he's an experienced goalie and, at age, 27, that he could still conceivably get better. If Vladar puts up just league-average numbers, allowing Sam Ersson to regain his form as a solid tandem guy before Carter Hart's departure midway through the 2023-24 season, that alone would be worth a double-digit improvement in points in the standings.
Young players are arriving. A fifth-round pick in 2022, Alex Bump has emerged as a winger who, at this point, should probably considered likely to make the opening-night lineup. He may even be joined by this year's No. 6 overall draft pick Porter Martone and/or 2024 first-round pick Jett Luchanko, both of whom will come to camp in September with an eye on making the roster. And the Flyers expect their other young players already here to get better, too. Matvei Michkov, in particular, could be ready to break out after an outstanding rookie season.
There remains the possibility for another notable move, particularly after Briere said he might be willing to go the offer-sheet route. That could be a way to upgrade the center position. Or, perhaps there could be trade talks involving Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram, who is still without a deal in Buffalo.
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But that feels increasingly unlikely. The Flyers are now up against the salary cap for next season (they may even have to make a more or two before the season begins to get cap compliant), yet still have plenty of cap space to play with in less than a year, as they finally reach the end of a three-year process of carrying dead money in the name of resetting the team culture and acquiring future assets.
Briere has been patient and methodical in his approach in getting here. There's not much reason to believe that's going to change between now and the start of camp in a little more than two months.