When the sun rose on July 7, the only remaining outstanding piece of necessary business remaining for Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere was the contract status of restricted free agent defense Egor Zamula.
When the sun sets, business can theoretically be concluded.
On Sunday afternoon, the Flyers announced that they had re-signed the 24-year old Zamula to a two-year, $3.4 million extension with a cap hit of $1.7 million — checking in at almost exactly the contract projection via Evolving-Hockey’s model, which pegged Zamula’s market value at two years and $1.699 million per year.
Zamula finally broke through in 2023-24 and established himself as a fixture on the NHL roster, making the club out of camp and ultimately appearing in 66 games for the Flyers, scoring five goals and finishing with 21 points.
Zamula’s “rookie” season (he was not technically Calder Trophy-eligible given the fact that he had appeared in at least 10 NHL games in each of the two previous seasons) was uneven, and Zamula was scratched on multiple occasions, grading out in the 5th percentile among NHL defenseman by impact on even strength expected goal differential (per Evolving-Hockey’s RAPM model).
But Zamula did shine at times, particularly in January, when he showcased surprising upside as an NHL power play point man. He’ll enter training camp as a favorite to earn a roster spot and serve as the team’s primary third-pair left-side defenseman.
The specifics of the Zamula contract does confirm that, at least as of now, the Flyers project to be over the $88 million cap ceiling given their expected roster, by a little over $800,000.
As their cap situation stands right now, Briere and the Flyers will have to tap into long-term injured reserve (LTIR) allowance in order to become compliant with the salary cap ceiling. It would not be difficult to do so, given the fact that both Ryan Ellis and Ryan Johansen are logical candidates to be placed on LTIR, as neither are expected to be available in 2024-25.
But Briere has noted on multiple occasions that he would prefer not to use LTIR if at all possible, due to the fact that it means that the Flyers will not bank cap space over the course of the 2024-25 season, and it could lead to a significant bonus overage (given the heavy bonuses in Matvei Michkov’s entry-level contract) carried over into 2025-26. Right now, however, he would have little choice, barring another roster move in the coming weeks, or an unexpected start-of-season demotion.
That, however, is a problem for October. Right now, Briere and the Flyers can say that their all of their outstanding contracts have been resolved, and they have a young blueliner in Zamula locked up for two more seasons.
