The largest, wildest, and most significant Philadelphia Flyers storyline for the upcoming NHL offseason is Matvei Michkov.
The second such narrative? It would be All-Star forward Travis Konecny’s future, who during his farewell interview in April was remarkably evasive when asked about his contract position. The 27-year-old Konecny is in the final year of a $650 million, six-year contract he signed with the Flyers on September 16, 2019, and on July 1 he will be eligible to negotiate a contract extension. Given that Konecny is the team’s premier player, it makes sense that both Flyers supporters and hockey enthusiasts speculate about him the most.
There is one more thing, though. In July, the Flyers will be considering extending the contract of another player who is just as worthy, if not more, of attention. That would be defenseman Cam York, who in 2023–24 had a fantastic breakthrough season during his first NHL season. The Flyers general manager Danny Briere drafted up a two-year, $3.2 million bridge contract that the 23-year-old is currently in the final year of. Briere inked the player on July 10. York played in all 82 regular season games and finished the season with 10 goals, 20 assists, and 30 points.
What’s even more amazing is that he managed to play through a terrible shoulder injury in February, which he shyly acknowledged during his farewell interview, right up until and including the Stadium Series game against the New Jersey Devils. York will turn 24 in January, so the Flyers may lock the young defenseman down through his age-32 season if they grant him the maximum eight-year deal extension now.
On the other hand, Konecny, an All-Star forward, would be signed until his 36th season if they did the same for him. For a player who has only scored one goal in 22 career NHL playoff games and has played fewer than 70 regular season games in three of the last five seasons, that would be less than ideal. York has shown that, despite his youth, he is capable of rising to the occasion when it matters most.
In his first full season in the NHL, he averaged a career-high 22:37, one minute behind fellow defenseman and partner Travis Sanheim for the top spot on the Flyers. Furthermore, this season, he and Sanheim were the only Flyers to average at least 20:00 of ice time.
Furthermore, York trailed Nick Seeler for the team lead in blocks by just 31, despite the fact that Seeler is well-known for his relentless readiness to block shots as if insulted by the opponent’s idea to even try shooting. To put it succinctly, the Michigan product is infallible. According to teammate Marc Staal, York seldom plays a terrible game, plays the power play and penalty kill, scores points, hits, blocks shots, and plays through pain for his team. He also skates and moves the puck at a very high level. Without a doubt, the Flyers’ most wise summertime move should and might be related to York’s contract.
