Danny Briere finished off another contract Monday for one of the Flyers' young foundation pieces.
The club signed Cam York to a two-year, $3.2 million contract. The deal has an average annual value of $1.6 million.
The 22-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent this offseason. He'll remain an RFA when his new contract expires.
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Earlier in the day, the Flyers avoided arbitration with Noah Cates, signing the 24-year-old forward to a two-year deal.
Morgan Frost and Olle Lycksell are the Flyers' remaining RFAs in line for new contracts.
After the Flyers made a debatable decision keeping York off of last season's opening night roster, the 2019 first-round draft pick was called up in December and never went back down. He played 19:39 minutes per game and had 20 points (two goals, 18 assists) over 54 games. His on-ice even-strength goal differential was minus-1, best among all Flyers defensemen who played more than 50 games. His 0.37 points per game ranked second among the team's blueliners, behind only Tony DeAngelo's 0.60.
"I obviously wanted to make the team out of camp and wasn't able to do that. It's not the end of the world," York said at his end-of-the-season press conference in April. "But I wanted to go down kind of with a chip on my shoulder and play really well, and I felt like I did."
NHL
York, a catch-me-if-you-can type of defenseman, should see increased responsibility this season. He's a power play quarterback and poised for his first full campaign at the NHL level. And the rebuilding Flyers want to open the door for more youth on defense. They traded Ivan Provorov last month and Justin Braun retired after last season. DeAngelo could be dealt to the Hurricanes soon in a trade that might still be pending.
So York is expected to play a top-four role in 2023-24 and maybe even a top-pair role.
"We want to give our young guys a look, a bigger look," Briere said in June after the Provorov trade. "Cam York had the tough training camp, but he went down, put his time in in the minors, really came back rejuvenated and was a great player for us. He's obviously an important part of the future of the Flyers."
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