PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 28: Egor Zamula #54 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates after scoring during the second period against the New York Islanders at Wells Fargo Center on September 28, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Photo Credit: NHL.com
Egor Zamula had a brief 14 game stint with the big club this past season. Zamula finished this recall with four assists and was a plus/minus of 0. He looked confident and made some plays that lead to quick zone exits. Zamula has defensive awareness, which is a good thing to have on the big stage, but he could get bigger and stronger in the same process. Flyers’ Interim General Manager Danny Briere wasted no time with re-signing Zamula to a one-year prove it deal worth $775,000 which is the league minimum.
Zamula has shown enough to earn this deal, and the hope is he wins a permanent spot out of camp. This is something that Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella and Danny Briere have preached time and time again throughout the course of the season, “We’re not looking out to go sign a big-time free agent with lots of term on a contract at the moment,” Briere said at his season ending presser. “We want to give our young players the opportunity to develop, and we want to see what we have before kind of blocking some of the young guys.”
“The younger guys are being put in many more positions to see what they can do. I thought Z – I’m not sure how his assists come about – but just watching his game, I thought he had some really good puck poise,” Tortorella said of Zamula following a Florida Panthers game earlier in the season.
That was then, and this is now. Tortorella is not giving out spots because of their name, or status. You have to earn your role or spot on this club, and Zamula is no different, “No, no. He doesn’t have a job to lose, he has a job to win. He’s not penciled in, he’s got a job to win. A number of guys you think are penciled in, are not,” Tortorella said yesterday at camp.
Tortorella wants Zamula to make the play more quickly. If he sees it, then make it without hesitating. This has been a work in progress on this part, but he was much smoother in that regard in this recall. He did show poise, and made some nice clean zone exits in his 14 game stint. Honestly, Zamula did a good job and he could be part of the solution moving forward for the Flyers, as his game has grown over the course of the year. Good thing is Zamora is healthy and he bulked up this past off season, “Get bigger in Summer. Spent here with Joel, everyday. I put on 20 pounds in the Summer (Weight 200 pounds).”
Zamula continues, “I’m already clear, and I’m ready to go tomorrow.” He underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder on April 10. The surgery was performed at Penn Medicine. He missed the remainder of the 2023 AHL playoffs and was expected to make a full recovery for training camp this September, so it’s good to hear from him that he is officially cleared and ready to go.
John Tortorella and his staff are laying building blocks for a successful foundation, and that starts with playing hard and wanting to win. Both he and Danny Briere are committed to the youth, and do not want any vets blocking them from growing. Things have never seen brighter for Zamula with earning a spot with the big club outright of camp, especially when Flyers’ GM Danny Briere said that the defense is not etched in stone for next season, to me this meant that the Flyers were given opportunities to the young guys to earn spots. If Zamula or some other young defensemen cannot beat out some veterans, then maybe they should see more time in the AHL. It’s not on the organization for them not making the team, they have given every opportunity for the youth to steal one or two spots on the defensive side of the puck.
