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The Flyers don’t score a lot. They fall behind a lot, too. But they’ve been resilient, and they’ve found ways to fight back.
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Nick Tricome
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Tag: Travis Sanheim
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Cam York returned to the Flyers’ lineup, now he’s finally getting back on the power play
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Cam York will be on the power play Saturday night for the Flyers.
He’ll be back there for the first time in a long time when the team takes on the Minnesota Wild at Xfinity Mobile Arena, on a unit consisting of himself, Trevor Zegras, Noah Cates, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster, based on Saturday’s morning skate reps.
Moreover, the Flyers need him there.
“Well, I think if you look at it, you got [Jamie Drysdale], Yorkie and then [Travis Sanheim],” head coach Rick Tocchet explained. “Sandy’s been playing a lot of ice time, so you gotta save some minutes. So any of those three guys, we wanna get them reps.”
And for York, to see what he can generate offensively.
When it comes to the minutes, his return to the lineup in Thursday night’s 5-2 loss to Winnipeg already gave Sanheim a bit of a breather – well, relatively.
York skated 22:32 of ice time in his first game back from a lower-body injury to begin the season, while Drysdale played 24:08 and Sanheim 24:35, after Sanheim averaged 27:15 and topped out at 29:34 through the first three games.
“He’s still gonna get the minutes, for sure,” York joked about Sanheim from his locker. “I think he’ll be happy he doesn’t have to play 28-plus. That’s tough to maintain that for 82 games, and if we can kind of ease those minutes on him, I think he’ll benefit from that.”
Along with the distribution of them as the Flyers go.
York appeared to be eased back into things on Thursday night. Even though he skated above 20 minutes, it was nearly all at even strength while Sanheim and Drysdale handled the bulk of the power play time.
York said he felt good and comfortable getting back on the ice in game action, and feels good about the prospect of getting his first look of the season on the power play Saturday night.
He got plenty of reps in camp, and during the morning skate, he put a black practice jersey on to signal his spot on the man-advantage while Sanheim put on an orange jersey to take up a role on the penalty kill.
![Cam-York-Flyers-Jets-Break-10.16.25-NHL.jpg]()
Eric Hartline/Imagn Images
Cam York and the Flyers are hoping time on the power play leads to more points from the defenseman.
York, notoriously now, was removed from the power play and had a down season last year as former coach John Tortorella was on his way out.
Tocchet, as the new head coach, is giving him the opportunity again, with the belief from the organization that not only can York return to form as a top-pairing defenseman, but as one who is also capable of much more on the offensive side.
York is still going to have to commit to all the little details on the defensive side under Tocchet, and he said as much throughout the summer and on Saturday morning, but his chance to do more with the puck, get his name on the board a bit more often, and help the Flyers score more in the process? That starts Saturday night against Minnesota.
“I think just getting the puck touches and more minutes, you’re gonna have probably more points than if you weren’t on the power play, obviously,” York said. “It kinda gets that mojo going again. I had that a few years ago, and I think it helped my game and my confidence. Excited to hopefully get back into that.”
Hopefully, it gets more going for the Flyers, too.
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Nick Tricome
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Flyers thoughts: About that overturned goal, Sanheim’s minutes, and no Michkov in OT
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The Flyers are 0-1-1 to start the year after Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to Carolina in overtime, but not without some early controversy.
See, the Flyers won initially, or at least they thought.
Just within the final minute of OT, Trevor Zegras carried the puck into the offensive zone, made a move, then slipped a pass to Travis Sanheim crashing in.
Sanheim, with speed, took the puck and cut around the Carolina defenders across the top of the crease. Goaltender Frederik Andersen pushed up to disrupt Sanheim, but as he did, the puck rolled straight to the stick of Bobby Brink, who took an extra glide across and fired home the winner.
Andersen took issue with the sequence, though, and after review, the officials sided with him. They waved off the goal for goaltender interference on Sanheim. The Hurricanes took it the other way and scored for the win soon after.
It’s what it is.
“It’s in the situation room. At that point, you usually don’t get an explanation,” Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said postgame. “It’s a tough call. Yeah, been on the right side of those and the wrong side of them, so I really don’t have a comment on it.”
But here’s the other way it looks: There is contact between Sanheim, as the puck carrier, and Andersen at the top of the crease, which starts the goaltender interference conversation. However, Andersen appears to initiate the contact by punching his glove out to disrupt Sanheim, and commits to playing him while not registering where the puck actually is until it’s too late, as this replay captured by Nasty Knuckles producer Travis Ballinghoff shows:
The NHL Situation Room explanation on the play and its ruling to disallow the goal, per NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman:
That seems like a lot of onus on Sanheim when it’s pretty plain to see that Andersen made a decision on a move that pulled him out of his crease.
Even if he wasn’t touched, his slide carried him to the left post as Brink was striding across to the right. Andersen never would’ve had a chance at stopping that shot in any scenario.
But hey, it’s the call the league made, and it’s two games into the season. It’s what it is.
“Just trying to make a play to net,” Sanheim said. “I guess incidental contact. Felt like he kind of pushed his arms out, too. It was kind of ‘I have to make a play’ as well, and when I see it, I don’t think he was ever getting back, even if I don’t touch him. So tough call.
“Obviously, it’s not the refs, it’s the league that decided that, so it’s unfortunate and we have to live with it.”
It’s what it is.
A few other quick thoughts on the Flyers…
Here’s a Tipp
The Flyers opened the scoring Saturday night in the first period’s final seconds, and while on the power play.
Travis Konecny fired a shot that ricocheted off the glass behind the Carolina net that took a perfect bounce right back to the front for Owen Tippett to pot home.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead into the intermission, Tippett had his first goal of the year, and the Flyers had their first power play goal of the year.
And those latter two facts might be key.
The power play has been abysmal the past few years, but in the sequence shown in the clip above, it moved pretty fluidly with Trevor Zegras handling the puck in the middle of the Flyers’ setup and drawing attention. It left Konecny alone at the wall with plenty of space to move in and pick his spot.
The bounce to Tippett is a bit of luck, but you do need to be in the right place, right time to score more often than not, and he was right where he needed to be.
The Flyers need to be better this year on the man advantage, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, and they could really use Tippett getting back to scraping up against or even breaking the 30-goal mark after struggling through long droughts of inconsistency last season.
Saturday night was only one case, but a promising one for both.
A lot of skating for Sanheim
The Flyers had to submit their opening night roster with Cam York and Rasmus Ristolainen both sidelined, and right away, their defense looked concerningly thin without them.
So far, it’s easy to see the strain. You just have to look at Travis Sanheim’s minutes.
Thursday night against Florida, he skated 27:15, and then Saturday night with the overtime period, he totaled 29:34 with 38 shifts taken.
The Flyers have been leaning heavily on their top defenseman in the early going. He’s handled it, and scored the tying goal to push Saturday night into overtime, but they still have 80 more games.
They need some defensive depth to balance themselves out.
Never miss a beat
It’s early, and the Flyers have the benefit of a grace period to fully get acclimated with new head coach Rick Tocchet.
The rough patches have been there through the first two games, but the line of Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink? That trio hasn’t seemed to miss a beat.
They put together the sequence that led to the Flyers’ lone goal in the loss to Florida on Thursday night, and Saturday night, they were all over the ice.
Brink scored in the second period off some strong play along the wall from him, Cates, and Nikita Grebenkin before the latter winger hopped off for a change:
Then in overtime, Brink had the puck, the space, and the extra step inside for the OT winner before it was overturned, while throughout the night, it felt like if a Hurricane had the puck, Cates was instantly bearing down on them.
There’s no quit in that line, and out of the gate, they’ve been chaos for the opposition. Pretty safe to say they’re staying together.
Where was Matvei?
When the Flyers went into OT, Matvei Michkov didn’t see the ice.
Last season, through all the ups and downs for the rookie, it was clear immediately that he can fly with the extra ice available to him at 3-on-3, and rise to the occasion, too, with three overtime winners.
But Tocchet didn’t send him out. Why?
“Just wanted the guys I thought were skating,” Tocchet said.
Michkov has been mostly quiet through the first two games, which maybe lends to Tocchet’s point – though the winger did get scrappy with the Hurricanes after a hit on Konecny with his back turned.
Even so, the counterargument is that you want your best offensive skaters out there in OT, so Michkov’s usage under Tocchet might be an early point to monitor.
Granted, we’re still only two games in.
For now, it’s what it is.
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Nick Tricome
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Flyers 2024-25 Season Preview: Defense – Philadelphia Sports Nation
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Previously, we determined that the Flyers have a big question mark in the net this season, albeit with a side of hope and upside.
Let’s look at the Flyers Defensive pairings as we head towards training camp.
The Top Billing
The expected top pairing of Travis Sanheim and Cam York needs no introduction.
Travis Sanheim
Sanheim inked a long-term deal with the Flyers in 2022, and he carries a $6.25MM cap hit through the 2031 season. In 81 games last year, Sanheim netted 10 goals and 44 points, along with a -20 plus/minus. With Sanheim assuming the proverbial #1 Defenseman mantle last year, he had a solid jump from 23 points in 81 games the prior year.
Sanheim’s ice time was up nearly 3 minutes per game; however, he had the same time on ice in 2021-22 when he posted 13 fewer points in 80 games. Therefore, his additional production is not simply the added ice time. Sanheim showed poise and character last year, playing with a chip on his shoulder but ready to prove the Flyers were right not to have traded him before his No Trade Clause kicked in.
Cam York
York, the Flyers’ first-round Pick (#14 overall in 2019), is entering his fourth full year. He has seen his games and point totals increase yearly with the Flyers. Last year, York netted 10 goals and 20 assists in all 82 games and had a -14 plus/minus. York, who is in the final year of his contract ($1.6MM per year), will be a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
York averaged 23 minutes under Tortorella last year, so it’s unlikely that he will significantly increase his ice time this year. York will look to do more with his play when he is out there.
What’s on Second?
Jamie Drysdale & Nick Seeler
Justin Giampietro of the Hockey Writers likes Nick Seeler and Jamie Drysdale’s numbers last year. The pair posted some good numbers in their 104 minutes of even-strength time together.
Jamie Drysdale
Drysdale was a somewhat shocking pick-up in January last year, having been acquired in exchange for heralded prospect Cutter Gauthier. It was shocking that Gauthier decided he would not play for the Flyers, so they tried to find a win-win deal.
Drysdale enters the year on the second of his three-year ELC, carrying a $2.3MM cap hit. The former #6 overall pick by the Ducks in 2020 played in 24 games with the Flyers last year, where he posted 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points, a -18 plus/minus to go along with 18:48 in average ice time. Unfortunately, that’s not a stellar stat line for a #1 pick.
Before joining the Flyers, Drysdale had a goal and 4 assists in 10 games. Drysdale will look to continue to try and gel with the team. I would expect Drysdale’s ice time and comfort level to pick up this year, and the production should follow.
Nick Seeler
Seeler signed a Four-Year Contract Extension with the Flyers back in March, carrying a $2.7MM cap hit. In 71 games with the Flyers last year, Seeler put up 1 Goal and 12 assists and was a plus 9. We’ll give Seeler some credit for being a plus on the ice, averaging 16.57 minutes each night on this team. In addition, he blocked an incredible 205 shots last year, along with 161 blocked shots the previous year. Seeler, as the ‘Who’ famously said, gets his back into his living. Moreover, Seeler is a good teammate and gives his effort every shift.
The 3rd & the 7th
Rasmus Ristolainen, Egor Zamula, Erik Johnson, Adam Ginning, Emil Andre, Ronnie Attard
Rasmus Ristolainen
Ristolainen may be feeling the heat. Acquired in 2021, which cost the Flyers Robert Hagg, a 2021 1st and 2023 2nd round pick to acquire, Ristolainen, at 6’4, 221 lbs., perhaps was becoming a very popular trade candidate before injury last year. Having now played three seasons in the orange and black, he averaged 18 points with the Flyers before last year’s season, putting up only 4 points in 31 games.
Ristolainen, a former 40-point-a-season defenseman in his earlier career with Buffalo, albeit under a different playing style and ice time. If Ristolainen can form a shut-down third pair, it would significantly improve the Flyers’ chances overall. With a $5.1MM cap hit in year 3 of 5 of his contract, he no longer puts up the offensive numbers to justify that cap hit. ‘Risto’ blocked 187 shots over the last two years to go along with 218 hits over that same period. The problem with hoping he develops into a shut-down defenseman is that ‘Risto’ has never had a season where he ended up on the positive side of the plus/minus category.
Egor Zamula
Zamula, an RFA to begin the summer, signed a new 2-year contract this summer. Zamula is coming off a 66-game campaign with 5 goals and 21 points in 16 minutes of average ice time. Zamula will get an opportunity to grow on his campaign, especially following a new contract.
It’s expected that he’ll slot in as the #6 defenseman at the moment and be given a chance to see what he can do for his next act.
Erik Johnson
Acquired by the Flyers in March of last year for a 2024 4th-round pick, he posted 3 points and a -9 plus/minus in 17 games for the Flyers last year. The former 1st overall selection, Johnson began his career with the St. Louis Blues back in 2007 and had 987 games and 343 points in his 16-year career.
Johnson signed a 1-year contract with the Flyers when free agency opened on July 1st and is ‘open for any role.’
“My days of 25, 26 minutes at night are behind me,” Johnson said after signing. “I know that, and I’m comfortable with it.” Jonnson reiterated to the Flyers brass that he was committed to the team: “I told them I’d be open for any role. I’m here to help these guys on and off the ice. Whether it’s 20, 30, 40, 50 games, or whatever it is, I’m here for them, and I’m here for the Flyers, and whatever they’re going to ask of me, I’m going to do.”
“I remember being really influenced by great veterans in St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight, Paul Kariya, and then in Colorado, I had Adam Foote and Milan Hejduk,” Johnson said. “All those guys were at the tail end of their careers, but they really offered a lot of things off the ice that I still carry with me today.”
The Flyers hope his experience, attitude, and leadership will permeate the organization and help the younger kids develop. Johnson, for his part, appears to love the Flyers’ leadership team and the ‘great group.’
Adam Ginning
Ginning just signed a two-year extension with the Flyers in June, with an average annual value of $787.5K. In stark contrast to Erik Johnson’s experience and pedigree, Ginning has played 10 NHL games to date, 9 of which came last year. He scored a goal for his only NHL point in his early career.
While a small sample size, Ginning is an even player in the plus/minus category in his 10 games. In his AHL career, he averaged 17 points, and in his first pro year, he was a plus 24. The Flyers will likely give Ginning a look in camp to show he can lock down a regular spot, but with the log jam in front of him, he’ll likely be the first emergency call-up on D.
Emil Andrae
Emil, 22, played four games with the Flyers last year. For the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he scored 5 goals, 27 points, and a -10 plus/minus in the regular season.
Andrae will likely be given one of the first call-up opportunities should any fill-ins be required at the NHL level.
Ronnie Attard
Attard is another prospect who will get a look during the season. He has played a total of 19 games for the Flyers over parts of three seasons. Last year in the AHL, he had 10 goals, 27 points, and a +4 plus/minus in 48 games for the Phantoms. The prior year, he posted 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games for the Phantoms.
Summary
The Flyers’ top 7 Defensemen seem fairly set going into the season, with Erik Johnson being on the record as being comfortable in any role that is needed.
Sanheim and York look to lead the Flyers on the back end, a group with much to play for.
Ristolainen finds himself in a numbers game with a big contract for declining production. There were rumors he was a candidate to be moved last year and we’ll see if that is the case this year as well.
Seeler is looking to make good on his new 4-year deal.
Zamula is looking to return the Flyers’ faith in his new deal.
Drysdale will likely be happy for some stability, having joined the team in the middle of last year and looking to prove that the Flyers made the right call.
The group is all there from #1-7.
The big question is, can they fit the pieces together to get a little more out of the whole?
PHOTO: Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
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JR Martin
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