York and Allison could impact an offseason of change

It is likely with equal parts urgency and anxiety that the Flyers will enter their fifth non-playoff postseason in the last nine years on Tuesday.

Since well before the trade deadline, general manager Chuck Fletcher has been hinting at, or outright admitting, an obvious need for changes, though salary cap issues and high veteran salaries on long-term contracts will hinder his efforts on that front.

Either way, Fletcher has hit the go button on his offseason tinkering by directing head coach Alain Vigneault to incorporate wouldbe future stars Wade Allison and Cam York into the Flyers’ end-of-season death march.

York, the 20-year-old from Anaheim, Calif., was the Flyers’ No. 1 draft choice (14th overall) in 2019. In two years at the University of Michigan the smooth-skating, twoway blue line force compiled 36 points (9 goals, 27 assists) in 54 games. He captained the United States’ World Junior Championship team to a gold medal.

York signed his professional entry level contract with the Flyers at the end of March and averaged nearly a point per game in a short stay with the Phantoms before being called up.

Allison, 23, was a second-round pick in 2016. In a dozen Flyers games, he’s scored four times, and in eight games with the late-starting Phantoms, he scored four goals and registered five assists.

With such an infusion of youth, the Flyers hardly looked peacefully prone Friday night, as Allison’s two goals and York’s steady blue line presence in his NHL debut contributed to the Flyers’ 4-2 road win over current East division runner-up Washington.

The loss dealt the Capitals a tough blow as they were trying to keep pace with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who Saturday won their third straight in the season finale against Buffalo to clinch the division title.

The Capitals had to defeat the Flyers in the teams’ rematch game Saturday night, then beat the Bruins in their finale on Tuesday in order to overtake the Pens in a tiebreak for the No. 1 seed.

Of course, playoff seedings are the furthest things from the Flyers’ minds right now. And you can tell that by listening to their coach.

“I want my players to conduct themselves as professionals, and go out and play hard,” Vigneault said before the Capital rematch Saturday. “But I don’t put a lot of stock into performances at this time. The games basically don’t mean much, so in my estimation this is not a ‘statement’ game, far from it. But I do expect the players to go out and play hard.”

Certainly the likes of rookies Allison and York, and second-year man Joel Farabee, who also scored on Friday, should have no problem getting motivated for this or Monday’s overdue season-ender with the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center.

As for those older guys with the long-term big contacts? Well, time will tell.

One thing is for sure, however: The more the upstarts continue to impress, the more the others should feel the push.

“I thought he looked good,” elder defensive partner Justin Braun said of York’s major league debut Friday. “He looked poised on the puck, made the right plays on the breakouts, skated well through the neutral zone ... yeah, for a first game, I thought he looked good.”

Vigneault agreed about York, saying, “I’ve only really seen him for one practice and one game, but like I mentioned yesterday, I thought he looked smooth. He seems like a quiet young man but definitely showed some positive things yesterday on the ice and hopefully he’ll follow it up tonight.”

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NOTES >> Alex Lyon started in net against the Caps Saturday night but Vigneault said Brian Elliott would make the start Monday, which figures to be his last game as a Flyer. ... Braun, who arrived in the summer of 2019 with veteran Matt Niskanen, on the young Flyers’ defensive corps: “A lot of young guys, and Matt and I stabilized that (last season). But losing him was huge this year.” Niskanen retired after the 2020 playoff run.