If things don't shake out the way the Philadelphia Flyers might hope, they could find themselves a little lighter on their salary cap hit with a contract termination.
Though they started the season without him, the Flyers have turned to Emil Andrae on defense and haven't really looked back.
That decision, of course, has had consequences, leading both Egor Zamula and Adam Ginning, who made the NHL roster to start the season, back to the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Zamula, unlike Ginning, had become an established NHL player over the last few seasons, but strings of poor performances has seen him play himself off the Flyers... perhaps for good.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Zamula's camp has offered the Flyers an opportunity for a mutual contract termination, though the Flyers would prefer to trade the struggling 25-year-old defender for an asset.
"One player who I think is trying to work out something. . . is Egor Zamula. He was sent on waivers earlier this year, he's at $1.7 million for this year and next [sic]. He's represented by Alex Texier's agent who terminated his deal so he could sign as a free agent in Montreal," Friedman reported in his most recent "Saturday Headlines" segment for Sportsnet.
Flyers Defenseman Benched After Struggles, Agent's Criticism of TeamJust two games into the season, <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> defenseman Egor Zamula has already been benched for his continued struggles.
"I believe the offer is there to do this too. I think there'd be interest at a lower number. Philly prefers a trade for a player who can help them at the AHL level or later this year in the NHL, but Zamula's going to be a name to watch because he cleared waivers and he is an NHL defenseman, just not at the number right now for Philadelphia."
Zamula is a pending restricted free agent at the end of this season and, as Friedman noted, carries a $1.7 million cap hit this season. That's a bit rich for a team that would like to add a depth defender on waivers, especially if that team is a contender of some sort.
As of now, the Flyers are saving $1.15 million by stowing the 6-foot-3 Russian in the AHL, but can move his full $1.7 million off their books via trade or the aforementioned contract termination offer from Zamula's camp.
The end of Zamula's tenure with the Flyers has felt almost inevitable since head coach Rick Tocchet called for him to pick up the pace in the preseason and the results, of course, never followed.
Previously, it was reported that the Calgary Flames had trade interest in Zamula.