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 last season. Zamula finished his last 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’ 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, early in the offseason.
Zamula has shown enough to earn this deal, and he got bigger and stronger in the offseason plus his confidence is much better just go around. 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.”
It’s become increasingly clear that Zamula is an asset, or he may have possibly been sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He is no longer waivers exempt, and Zamula is finally proving that he can do this at the NHL level. What’s even more impressive is that Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella has faith in him, “It’s not so much the shot mentality, it’s the calming down of the Power Play,” said Flyers’ Head Coach John Tortorella on Zamula’s renewed confidence with the man advantage. “I think his vision, I haven’t worked with him on that, That’s him. That’s what he showed us, that’s why he’s getting the opportunity there.”
Torts continues, “He’s always shown us that he’s good with the puck. Still gets beat one-on-one. Defensemen just can’t get beat one-on-one, so we still have some work to do with him. We’ve always been encouraged when he has the puck. How he sees the ice. The biggest improvement I think he’s made is he’s more decisive when he sees a play. He’s not slow moving the puck, and he’s more competitive.”
Flyers’ Head Coach Tortorella wanted Zamula to make the play more quickly. If he sees it, then make it without hesitating. This has been a work in progress on his part, but he has been much smoother in that regard. He has shown poise, and makes some nice clean zone exits. Honestly, Zamula did a good job and he could be part of the solution moving forward for the Flyers, as his game has grown since the early going of the season. Believe it or not, Zamula now has has 2g,2a in his last five games played, and he now owns six Power Play points this season (2g,4a).
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“There are some veteran guys that I’m hoping kids take their spot. As I just got through with Danny, as we looked at some of the guys, I think we’re gonna have healthy competition in all spots. I think you’ll look at our forward position, I think some kids have progressed nicely there as far as our youth. I think the next spot is defense. I’d like to see some youth come into there and push some people because there’s no locks. Not judged on the overall play of all those players are back there, there’s no locks there. I’m hoping some kids come in here. Certainly not going to be given – I’m certainly not going to disrespect the veteran guys and want to get them out of there. Everybody’s going to have to earn their spot. I think it’s another year and you’re still trying to go through the process. I’m anxious to see what camp looks like next year with some of the guys that’s played down in Lehigh that were interested in.” – Flyers Head Coach John Tortorella said at his season ending presser
Egor Zamula underwent successful surgery on his left shoulder on April 10, 2023. The surgery was performed at Penn Medicine. He missed the remainder of the 2023 AHL playoffs and made a full recovery. Zamula was training with Cam York, Tyson Foerster, and Joel Farabee all Summer in Voorhees, NJ. He just wanted to prove to the Flyers top brass and everyone around him that he was serious about being a mean stay in the NHL.
John Tortorella and his staff are laying building blocks for a successful foundation, and that starts with playing hard and wanting to win. Enter a player, fresh blood, like Zamula that continues and tries to impress every game.
“There are some veteran guys that I’m hoping kids take their spot,” Tortorella said at Training Camp. “As I just got through with Danny, as we looked at some of the guys, I think we’re gonna have healthy competition in all spots. I think you’ll look at our forward position, I think some kids have progressed nicely there as far as our youth. I think the next spot is defense. I’d like to see some youth come into there and push some people because there’s no locks. Not judged on the overall play of all those players are back there, there’s no locks there. I’m hoping some kids come in here. Certainly not going to be given, I’m certainly not going to disrespect the veteran guys and want to get them out of there. Everybody’s going to have to earn their spot.”
At this rate Zamula is impressing enough to be considered an NHL mainstay. Once figured to be out of the lineup every other game, enter Zamula who now can’t be taken out of the lineup. Good for him for sticking with it, especially after his two goal legacy game against the Ottawa Senators this past Sunday afternoon.
“I see rebound, I see the spot, and I think nobody see. Everybody look at the right side, so I shoot into open net.” – Egor Zamula said following a crazy goal, where he was the only one on the ice that knew where the puck was
