Just a day after learning that Tyson Foerster will be out for at least two months following a non-contact injury he suffered against the Penguins, the Flyers may have suffered another blow. 

Cam York did not return for the third period of the Flyers’ game against the Sabres, exiting after jumping into a scrum following a dangerous hit from behind by Rasmus Dahlin on Flyers star Trevor Zegras.  

York did not take a shift for the rest of the second period after the skirmish, which occurred at the 3:10 mark, then stayed in the locker room when his teammates returned to the ice. There didn’t seem to be any specific issues ailing York after the interaction, where he engaged with a few different Sabres, including Josh Doan, behind the Sabres goal. There weren’t any real punches thrown, but York did get grabbed from behind by Doan while engaging a different Sabre. 

Outside of that, there is no current reason for York’s departure from Wednesday’s game, and there wasn’t any specific inciting incident that would directly lead to an obvious injury. But regardless, it is just another unfortunate injury bounce both for player, and team. 

York started the season on injured reserve after suffering a lower body injury that caused him to miss the first three games of the year, but when he has played, York has provided a steadying presence on the Flyers top pair, to go along with the best scoring start of his NHL career. He was on pace for 44 points in 79 games, which would have been a career high by a wide margin. 

It is potentially yet another blow to what was shaping up to be a breakout season for York, as his entire game seemed to be taking a large step forward under Rick Tocchet, and a renewed confidence seemed to present throughout his hot start to the season. He was looking like a true top pair defenseman, something much more than just someone riding on the coattails of Travis Sanheim. 

So the Flyers will hold their breath awaiting the official diagnosis, if there is one, on York. The potential double whammy of a York absence, combined with the news of Foerster’s fate, makes it back-to-back days of salvos that threaten to sink the team’s playoff chances entirely. We will have to see what the extent of the issue is for York, but if it turns out to be something serious, it’ll result in two equally massive holes on the defense and offense that will be tremendously hard to fill.