The Philadelphia Flyers placed Egor Zamula on waivers on Thursday. The move is unsurprising, considering the underwhelming performance the 25-year-old blueliner has had this season. His lone assist in 13 games isn’t the biggest issue.
Zamula’s lack of all-around reliable play has been a major issue. While he’s actually a plus-4 this season, his analytics show another side. Zamula’s -3.8 expected goals for and 1-9 relative Corsi paint a much different picture. He’s seen his ice-time dwindle under Rick Tocchet, and well, something had to give.
Assuming that no one claims Zamula, the question begs: What’s next for Zamula and the Flyers? Barring a surprising claim, he’ll go down to the AHL. The Flyers will be able to bury most of his $1.7 million cap hit there.
But beyond cap relief, the Flyers will have a bit of a pickle on their hands. Zamula will still be an RFA next summer. Keeping his rights means extending a $1.4 million qualifying offer (QO). By the looks of things, that may not be something the Flyers would want to do.
If they decline his QO, he’ll become a UFA. But is losing Zamula for nothing something Daniel Briere really wants to do? Well, the Flyers could look into trading Zamula. But you have to doubt there would be any sort of market for the Russian blueliner.
At this point, it’s a safe bet that Zamula’s time in Philadelphia has come to an end. Unless there’s a team out there willing to give Zamula a fresh start, it’s doubtful he’ll be back in the NHL.
Perhaps the Flyers manage to get him as a throw-in as part of a larger deal. Who knows? Hopefully, Zamula can find his bearings in the AHL. If he can at least be a serviceable AHL defenseman, he might be able to get one more kick at the can next season. Sometimes, players just need a chance to reset and recalibrate. Perhaps that’s what Egor Zamula needs.