Jack Hughes, Cole Caufield, Matthew Boldy, Trevor Zegras and Alex Turcotte are all great prospects from the US National Under-18 Team who all should be drafted in the first round at this year’s draft and they all have one thing in common: they are forwards. Cam York has been overshadowed a bit this season by all these great forwards but don’t let that fool you, because Cam York has had a great season and he has all the tools to become a impact NHL defenseman. Now how come he isn’t more hyped? Lets find out together.
BSH 2019 Draft Profile:
Defenseman / US National Under-18 Team (Univ. Of Michigan comitt)
2018-2019 Statistics: 14G, 51A in 63GP
Size: 5’11, 172 Lbs
Pre-draft rankings
#16 The Athletic
#18 Bob McKenzie
What’s there to like?
Cam York is very good all over the ice, and he has exceptional hockey smarts. York lacks the elite speed you’d like to see in a smaller defenseman but he is still a great skater with good mobility and edge-work. He maintains good gap control and he has great balance which helps him to win puck battles and beating forwards on the blue line in the offensive zone. Something York does really well is that he never seems to be caught out of position, he knows when to pinch in the offensive zone and he knows when you should clear the puck or when you can break out of your own zone with a great outlet pass or even skate it out himself. He possesses a good shot and is a very good passer. All-in-all he plays a strong two-way game and in a few years he could be someone you play in all situations.
What’s not to like?
He plays a pretty well-rounded game but the first thing that pops into my head is that he can improve on getting shots through to the net. He has a good shot but like many defensemen around the world they struggle at times to get the shot through to the goaltender.
He will need time to mature and get stronger and he’ll have every chance to do so at University of Michigan, where he will play next year. York is a good-but-not-great skater so I guess that’s a weakness of some sort.
It’s difficult to judge a player from the US National Under-18 Team because they have such a great and dominating team, especially this year. How good will Cam York be when he plays against stronger, faster, better players? That’s a question for every prospect and not just York and time will tell, but I think a big part of why York hasn’t been more hyped is that there’s just too much great young talent on that team. He was great for Team USA at Under-18 World Juniors, so that should have helped his case, but so were Caufield and Hughes, and those guys tend to get all the attention.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
Flyers have possibly the best young defensive core in the league and that may make you think that we don’t need him but I would say you’re wrong. The Flyers have reached the point where all of the great young defensive prospects have made the team so it’s time to restock the prospect pool and Cam York would definitely be a good start.
Something to keep in mind as well is that the Flyers may have a lot of cap space right now, but you never know what it will look like in a year or two and they may have to trade away one of their current defensemen. Perhaps by that time, York could be ready for an NHL role and he would be a much cheaper option.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
I personally believe that Fletcher will trade the pick but If they don’t I’m pretty certain that York will still be on the board by the time the Flyers pick at 11. York is predicted to go anywhere from 12th to 18th so they could possibly even attempt to trade back and get more assets and still get him, but you never know how the draft unfolds so that could be risky. Like I said earlier, the Flyers need to restock on defensive prospects so I could see York being a fit.
