Rumor time waits for no one, and the Flyers have already been involved less than a month into the season. And it should come as no surprise that it affects their backend, an area of concern.
While Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, and Nick Seeler are staples in the lineup, the bottom pairing has been in constant flux. All of Emil Andrae, Egor Zamula, Noah Juulsen, and Adam Ginning have tried to solidify roles. Ginning has established himself above the rest with his impressive training camp, earning himself a spot to start.
Juulsen has a history with Rick Tocchet and may have some leeway because of it. Andrae was a casualty of that, and question marks surround his future in Philadelphia. Another player who may not be long for the Flyers is Zamula. His preseason was full of mistakes, and things didn't get much better as the regular season began.
A healthy scratch in the last few games, Zamula's name has once again come up in the rumor mill. At last year's trade deadline, there were multiple reports that teams were checking in on the Russian defenseman. Sometimes, where there is smoke, there is fire.
Sounds like the #flames are looking for a young, left shot defenseman with size. They have too many bodies on 1-way deals on defense and want to move some out; Bean and Miromanov being two, I'm told.
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) October 17, 2025
PHI's Zamula, who played JR in CGY, I've heard CGY likes.@DailyFaceoff
Zamula played the majority of his junior career with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL. That might be a small connection to the area, though that was six years ago. The Flyers signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2018, bringing him to North America in 2020. In the prior two seasons, Zamula had worked out to make himself a semi-regular on the Flyers' backend.
But there hasn't been enough progression from Zamula to justify a bigger role. He has shown potential at times, but his results on the ice are often inconsistent. For a defenseman with his size and long reach, Zamula hasn't tapped into that part of his game enough. The opportunities have been there, so it's not due to a lack of chances.
Zamula has appeared in 157 games over the course of his six seasons in Philadelphia. The problem is that he has not seized the opportunity to put himself above the rest. It doesn't have to come with the flashy places. For a player who has had his mistakes magnified, sometimes not being noticed is a good thing.
It may just be that his particular skill set isn't useful in Philadelphia with what they already have. It could be that enough players have passed him on the depth chart, but aren't quite ready for the NHL yet. Change-of-scenery trades happen all the time in sports. This may be another one of them.
As for what the Flyers could get in return for Zamula? His value likely isn't high, even if other teams have shown interest in his services. Di Marco mentions two other younger defensemen as players the Flames may want to move on from. However, Jake Bean and Daniil Miromanov haven't exactly impressed in Calgary either. So the Flyers could find themselves in the same situation with either one of them.
It would be a surprise if Philadelphia could get more than a mid-round pick out of any team for Zamula. He'll check back into the lineup against the Wild, but unless he steps up his game quickly, his time may be coming to an end.