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: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Egor Zamula had a brief 14 game stint with the big club in the 2022-23 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. Yesterday, 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.
Zamula had an up and down 2023-24 season, with him showcasing his skills on the Power Play in January, in particular. He started the season off strong, then fell off a bit towards the latter part of November through December. Zamula bounced back and put together an “Ok” campaign.
Today, the Flyers inked Zamula to a two-year $3.4 million extension ($1.7 million AAV). Zamula has shown enough to earn this deal, and the hope is he battles for a permanent spot out of camp, as he is the front runner for the sixth defensive position at the moment, with presumably Hunter McDonald and Erik Johnson on his heels. 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.
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 towards the latter part of the season. He did show poise, and made 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 over the course of the year.
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Zamula could be a key cog in getting Matvei Michkov adapted to North America, culture wise, and learning how to become a pro, as well. Him re-signing is important, and this could be one of the very many reasons why. Both him and Ivan Fedotov could be huge assets for the growth of Michkov, most notably adapting to the culture of America.
The Flyers are now over the cap by approximately $820,000, but they can tap into LTIR, which Flyers’ General Manager Danny Briere does not want to do. Maybe there is a move in the future, maybe there isn’t, but as of now with Zamula. The Flyers have seven capable defensemen that know each other, and should be ready to go in 2024-25.
It’s been tough for Flyers fans for the past few seasons, but there might be a silver lining. The time of vets clogging up spots from the youth are a thing of the past. Now it’s time to give each young player a shot. This includes Zamula, and the hope is that with Zamula wins a spot out of camp with the golden opportunity that has been presented for him and other youth. The Flyers want this to happen. Let’s hope this trend does not continue in terms of offseason injuries.
