If the first few days of training camp are anything to go by, the Philadelphia Flyers could have a new-look defense under first-year head coach Rick Tocchet.
Through three days, Tocchet has done nothing short of glow about Cam York, who was the recipient of a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension from the Flyers this offseason.
The potential for the 24-year-old defenseman, and the hope, perhaps, is that he can "carry his own pair," in the words of Tocchet.
That would certainly imply far less minutes with frequent defense partner Travis Sanheim, the Flyers' de facto No. 1 defenseman and leader on the back end.
York has spent most of his training camp reps alongside prospect defenseman Helge Grans, a young player of similar age who is looking to finally establish himself as an NHL regular after playing six NHL games for the Flyers last year.
Grans, 23, is no longer waivers-exempt, so this training camp is functionally a now-or-never thing for him in a Flyers uniform.
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It says a lot about the Swede that he's playing with York, who has been talked up so much by Tocchet and the organization this summer.
It should also be noted that Grans, a right-shot, makes sense as a natural 1:1 replacement for the injured Rasmus Ristolainen as a tall, rangy defender.
So, while someone like Emil Andrae might have played more NHL games and played better in most of those games (including on a pair with Sanheim), the 5-foot-9 size and left-handedness will work against him. Fortunately, Andrae is still waivers-exempt for 34 more NHL games or until the end of this season.
As for Sanheim, it's been a little harder to get a read on his role this early into training camp.
The 29-year-old has spent time so far with prospect Spencer Gill, who, while impressive, is still too young and has virtually no chance of making the team this year, and veteran Noah Juulsen, who has struggled mightily and already profiled as a No. 7 or No. 8 defenseman if and when Ristolainen is healthy.
"I think I've already played with two different partners here through three days, so I'm not quite sure whether I'm playing left or right or who I'm with," Sanheim said Saturday. "I think I have the capability of being able to play with a lot of different guys, so whatever they do with me and my pair, I feel comfortable being able to play with whoever back there."
During Saturday's training camp scrimmage, Sanheim also featured on the second power play unit, which consisted of himself, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink.
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York and center Christian Dvorak rotated in for Sanheim and Cates at times.
So, while this isn't all to be taken as gospel at this stage, it's a potential new role for Sanheim, and a departure from the days of Ristolainen and Egor Zamula getting valuable power play minutes.
"I think there's more offense to my game," added Sanheim. "I think you saw I was on the power play today, and if that's something I'm asked of this season, I think that excites me."
As for Zamula, he was interestingly paired with Jamie Drysdale on Saturday, swapping places with Nick Seeler, who was next to Gill.
Zamula and Drysdale did spend some time together last season, though not nearly enough to draw conclusions one way or another on their chemistry and performances.
What is clear, though, is that Tocchet recognizes that he may not be able to get the most out of York and Sanheim when they're on the ice playing together at the same time.
How York rises to the challenge remains to be seen, but if the Flyers can manage to give themselves two legitimate top-four defense pairs, it lightens the load on everyone and should allow other guys, such as Grans, to step up and play more comfortably.
