The Philadelphia Flyers’ ongoing saga with beleaguered blueliner Egor Zamula could be coming to a head in the coming days/weeks.
The Flyers recently demoted the 25-year-old Russian defenseman after a less-than-impressive start to this season. Zamula has registered one assist in 13 games and shown uninspiring play.
However, Zamula wasn’t overly happy with getting sent down to the AHL. Nevertheless, he cleared waivers and joined the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In one game thus far, he’s registered an assist.
Unfortunately for Zamula and the Flyers, there doesn’t seem to be an upside to this situation. Zamula believes he’s an NHL-caliber defenseman, while the Flyers, among other NHL clubs, feel his cap hit is too high.
Those circumstances prompted notable insider Elliotte Friedman to reveal the plans unfolding in Zamula’s future. As Friedman revealed in the December 27 edition of Saturday Headlines, the Flyers and Zamula could be heading towards a mutual contract termination.
Friedman pointed out that Zamula’s agent, Daniel Milstein, also represents Montreal Canadiens’ forward Alexandre Texier. Earlier this season, Texier and the St. Louis Blues terminated their contract after the Blues cut Texier.
The Blues terminated Texier’s contract, allowing him to sign with the Canadiens. As such, a similar fate could be in the cards for Zamula.
Flyers would prefer to trade Zamula
Friedman also pointed out that the Flyers could prefer a trade instead of just terminating Zamula’s contract. However, his cap hit seems to be the sticking point.
If that’s the case, the Flyers may have to retain some of Zamula’s salary to make a deal work. Otherwise, a termination may be the only way to end the saga.
It’s worth pointing out that Zamula will be an RFA this summer. So, the Flyers could let Zamula go by passing on a qualifying offer. If that’s the case, he would become a UFA.
But letting Zamula’s situation get that far would mean letting him play out the remainder of the season in the AHL. As such, there’s no telling how much that situation could weigh on the club and the player’s well-being.
The Flyers will likely try to do right by Zamula. Potentially, terminating his contract would allow him to start anew elsewhere. As for teams interested in Zamula, that’s another issue. There could be clubs looking to land the undrafted blueliner. Teams looking for depth on the blueline might consider Zamula a worthwhile gamble.