The Flyers have waived left-shot defenseman Egor Zamula, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
Zamula has been a healthy scratch in five straight contests and has only played in 13 out of 32 games on the year. When Philadelphia needed some extra defensive depth earlier this month as Cameron York sustained a minor injury, they opted to make a roster move and recall Ty Murchison from the AHL instead of playing Zamula.
That was a clear indication that the writing was on the wall for his standing on the active roster. Today is the last day for teams to waive a player if they want to send him down to the minors before the holiday roster freeze begins on Dec. 20.
If Zamula clears and reports to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, it will mark his first minor-league action since the 2022-23 season. Now in his sixth NHL campaign, the 25-year-old had played 60-plus games for the Flyers in each of the last two seasons but was only on pace for 33 appearances this year.
The 6’3″ lefty looked like he could make a push for a fringe top-four role long-term after breaking out with 21 points and a +3 rating in 66 games in 2023-24, but his production has declined from that summit. This season, he’s got a +4 rating in 13 outings but has only managed one assist while averaging 14:02 of ice time per game, a decrease of over two minutes from last year.
Zamula is in the back half of the two-year, $3.4MM deal he signed with Philly as a restricted free agent in 2024. The Flyers can remove $1.15MM of his $1.7MM cap hit if they bury him in the minors, leaving them on the hook for a $550K cap charge if he’s in the AHL. If he’s not claimed, it’s clear the Flyers will be walking away from Zamula next offseason instead of extending him the $1.4MM qualifying offer he’s owed.
Thank goodness