In much the same way the NHL has an All-Star game where teams’ best players (usually) are sent to represent their club in a low-stakes best-on-best showcase, the AHL follows the exact same procedure.

Selected as representatives for the Leigh High Valley Phantoms are defenseman Cam York and right winger Tyson Foerster.

In 20 games with the Phantoms, York posted three goals and ten assists for 13 points. Of course, this is all past tense. York is no longer with the Phantoms.

He’s playing with the Flyers. And given that he’s already posted 1 goal and seven assists for 14 games with the big club, I don’t think there are any immediate plans to send him back to the AHL. For York, this is mostly just an appreciation of the work he had put in while Tortorella sent him to the minors to cultivate a more aggressive and assertive mindset.

That more aggressive mindset–combined with his skating and puck-handling abilities–has created a force in transition at the NHL level, where “do it yourself” breakouts and zone entries have become a norm for the preternaturally smooth defenseman.

Oh, and he plays defense, too.

Yeah, I wouldn’t expect that kid to be playing too many Phantoms games in the near future.

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Tyson Foerster, on the other hand, is a year younger than Cam. And he lost almost a full year of development after a shoulder injury that required surgery. This is his first full and extended run with the Phantoms, and he has not disappointed so far.

Foerster has collected 9 goals and 12 assists for 21 points in 32 games with the Phantoms. A combination of poor puck luck and York’s departure had seen Foerster’s production take a dip in the recent month. But in his last game, he may have gotten back on track.

Foerster–like any top-line winger–can only stand to benefit when he has chemistry with a #1 defenseman. Whether it be for passes to the weak side d-man to start a rush on 5v5, or coordinating set plays on the Power Play, shifting from York to Zamula was an unsurprising way to slow his production.

However, if the last game was any indication, one of the Flyers’ top prospects seems to have gotten his groove back.

And his body of work was worthy of being an AHL All-Star in what could almost effectively be viewed as his age-19 season.

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