Egor Zamula will be one of multiple Philadelphia Flyers battling for a roster spot come training camp and preseason.
Injuries to other defensemen saw an early season surge from Emil Andrae, who supplanted Zamula in the Flyers' lineup for parts of the season.
Zamula, 25, played 66 games last season and 63 games this past season, coming in and out of John Tortorella's gameday squad due to inconsistencies and, sometimes, struggling with the pace of play.
With new head coach Rick Tocchet coming to town, the 2025-26 season will be a fresh start for Zamula, who now faces competition for a roster spot in the form of Andrae, as well as Helge Grans, Adam Ginning, Hunter McDonald, and newcomers Noah Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert.
Two-time Olympic Gold medalist Igor Kravchuk, a former NHL defenseman and current KHL assistant coach, believes the book is not closed on Zamula in Philadelphia.
Kravchuk noted that Zamula and Alexander Romanov, who just signed a massive eight-year, $50 million contract extension with the New York Islanders, were both standouts on the same Russian U18 and U20 national teams, but their careers have since gone in opposite directions.
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"By the way, Romanov was a leader of the defense in the Russian youth team, along with Egor Zamula. Unfortunately, Zamula’s career is not going as well as Romanov’s," Kravchuk told Russia-Hockey.ru in a recent interview. "The current Philadelphia is a peculiar team. There are problems with the balance of the roster, with the entertainment. Zamula is a little lost in it, but there is still time to return his career to the right trajectory. Especially since the coach has changed in the club."
Heading into the crucial third full season of his NHL career, Zamula has already played for Alain Vigneault, Mike Yeo, John Tortorella, and Brad Shaw in parts of five seasons.
Next up will be Tocchet, who's previously coaxed career years out of Jakob Chychrun, Filip Hronek, and Quinn Hughes during his time working with those players.
Assistant coach Todd Reirden, tasked by Tocchet with running the penalty kill and defense, has previously worked with John Marino, Marcus Pettersson, Mike Matheson, Alex Goligoski, Kris Letang, Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov, John Carlson, Karl Alzner, and Nate Schmidt when those players were in their early and mid-20s, too.
Whether or not the previously undrafted Russian can follow in their footsteps remain to be seen, but the potential is there.
Zamula, at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, has the size the Flyers need and want on their defense, even if he seldom uses it to his advantage.
The left-shot defender also has a penchant for sneaking shots through traffic, and has a better shot in general than most would give him credit for.
That's something that led to Tortorella and Co. icing him for power play minutes, even though Zamula is not particularly agile and one of the slowest skating defenders in the NHL.
But, for a guy who played even strength minutes almost exclusively this season, Zamula's underlying analytics looked amazing, as noted in the image above.
He cut his penalty minutes from 32 to six from 2023-24 to 2024-25, and those can be a good indicator of whether or not a young, non-physical, non-fighter player is struggling to keep up with his competition.
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And yes, Zamula scored only three goals, 12 assists, and 15 points in 63 games this season, but he only registered 37 shots on goal. Zamula's 8.1% shooting percentage actually impressively ranked in the 85th percentile amongst his defensemen peers, according to NHL EDGE.
The big flaw, as previously referenced, will be Zamula's skating. His top speed, 22+ MPH bursts, 20-22 MPH bursts, and 18-20 MPH bursts all ranked below the 50th percentile.
The 6-foot-3 defender will now need to shift his focus towards building trust with a new coaching staff with his in-zone defending and play with the puck; managing the puck effectively will be crucial to Zamula's success, given his weaknesses with mobility and turnovers.
Heading into the last year of his contract, Zamula's Flyers future is entirely in his hands.
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