Tortorella recalls trying to ‘pick a fight’ with York, frustrated with current play

John Tortorella admitted he tried to “pick a fight” with Cam York back in 2022-23. The coach remains displeased with York’s play most of this season.

Feb 6, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York (8) against the Washington Capitals at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Flyers defenseman Cam York will be in the lineup again after being scratched Saturday afternoon against Seattle. But Flyers coach John Tortorella admitted he hasn’t been pleased with York’s game for a while now. And confessed to trying to do something with the blueliner during his first season as Philadelphia head coach.

Following the Flyers’ Tuesday morning practice, Tortorella was asked what York needs to do to improve his play. The coach didn’t specify one specific thing but revealed a number of flaws he’s seen in the pending restricted free agent’s play this season.

“Movement of the puck, closing out, a litany of things,” Tortorella said. “He’s just been average for me through all of his game. His sight…and again I know the shoulder (injury) affected him. But if you’re healthy, and you’re able to play, I just need to see you get better, I need to see improvement.”

Tortorella said if York’s shoulder is a nagging or lingering issue, he needs to let the coach know so he can “make the right call.” But he hasn’t been notified it’s a health issue. York missed a month of play after being injured in a Oct. 23 game against Washington, returning Nov. 23 against Chicago. York said it was the longest stretch of time he’s missed in his career. Tortorella also acknowledged it’s harder for a defenseman to hit the ground running following an injury as “you’re using your mind more than forwards.” Yet the coach didn’t believe that was the issue or any reasonable excuse. “I understand that, but it’s gone on too long.”

York, who has four goals and nine assists in 50 games, will not match last year’s totals of 10 goals and 20 assist for 30 points over a full 82-game slate. Although he’s sort of in the parking lot of Tortorella’s proverbial dog house, Tortorella gave York a bit of praise. Albeit somewhat backhanded.

“Even with how I feel about him as a player right now, there are good things that happen in the game for him,” Tortorella said. “It’s not like every time he’s out there he’s awful. I just want to see it more consistently. I want to see him use his legs more consistently. He was one of our better players at just advancing the puck out of our end zone. And whether it’s him just being a little bit too slow, or the other team just have good sticks, too many of them are being turned over.

“He’s one of the best at getting us out, and when I say getting us out, it’s not making a tape-to-tape play, it’s a play up the boards just to advance it by a forecheck to the next guy and then we’re have our support and we’re out. He struggles with that. One of our better defenders for quite a while in closing people out.”

Tortorella also revisited the then controversial decision to send York down to Lehigh Valley to begin the Flyers 2022-23 season. The move caught some off guard, believing York was almost guaranteed to make the big club. But Tortorella wasn’t happy with his training camp and down to the Phantoms York went.

“I’ll admit when I sent him down, I tried to pick a fight with him when I sent him down, I was so upset with his camp,” Tortorella said. “And he went to Lehigh, he put the time in. I felt he had a chip on his shoulder coming back here, mainly at me. And I told you guys I was so proud of him as far as where he brought his game to. There’s no reason why I can’t still look for that, and I’m going to continue to look for that.”

It’s difficult to assess a pending contract to a forthcoming restricted free agent but York’s play the remainder of the season might go a long way in determining the outcome. If he plays well he could see himself getting a sizable raise from his rather team-friendly $1.6 million AAV and longer term — not in the Sanheim realm but something perhaps just below it. If he stumbles and struggles as the Flyers play out these remaining games, York might be playing himself more into a shorter bridge deal, having to prove to both the coach and general manager Danny Briere he’s worth signing down the road for a longer period of time. The 17 games might not mean a heck of a lot to the Flyers concerning landing a playoff spot and leaping over a handful of teams, but to York they could be the difference between being here for a little longer or a lot longer.