York's deal is a quintessential "bridge" deal. From York's perspective, if all goes well for him, it will pave the way for a long-term contract that he'll be able to sign after the NHL's salary cap has started to rise again. From the Flyers' perspective, it offers them an extra two years to evaluate York's progress, and also gauge how far the rebuild has come in that timeframe.
York was selected 14th overall by the Flyers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and is part of that wide-ranging group of prospects whose development path was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, although York in particular rode out the bumps relatively well. He enrolled at the University of Michigan following his draft and fared quite well as a freshman, posting five goals and 11 assists in 30 games to lead all Michigan freshmen in scoring while earning several Big Ten accolades. But the pandemic ended the NCAA season before the conference and national tournaments could begin.
York improved as a sophomore, registering four goals and 16 assists for 20 points in 24 games during a pandemic-delayed season, and he captained Team USA to the gold medal at the 2021 World Junior Championships. While Michigan received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines were knocked out by positive COVID tests before they could play a game.
York signed his entry-level contract in March of 2021 and appeared in eight games for the Phantoms and three for the Flyers at the tail end of the 2020-21 season, getting an invaluable taste of the NHL before heading into his offseason training. His development has been steady since then - the 2021-22 season was just about evenly split between the Flyers and Phantoms, and then last year York started the season in Lehigh Valley and looked very good over a 20-game span before coming to Philadelphia for good in early December. York collected 20 points on two goals and 18 assists over 54 games in the NHL last year.
