Penguins place Egor Zamula on waivers for contract termination

A fresh start seems to be on the horizon for a young blueliner.

On Monday, the Pittsburgh Penguins placed defenseman Egor Zamula on waivers for the purpose of contract termination.

If Zamula clears the wire on Tuesday, he will become an unrestricted free agent.

The move comes a couple of days after the Penguins suspended the Russian blueliner for failing to report to the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The 25-year-old had only been with the organization for a few days, as he was part of the deal that saw Pittsburgh trade forward Philp Tomasino to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Zamula.

The Chelyabinsk native had already been with the minors, having played three games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers’ top farm team. He had posted two assists with a plus/minus of -3 prior to the trade.

The undrafted defender had been in the Flyers’ lineup relatively frequently early on this season, but had been a healthy scratch for most of the past couple of months prior to going on waivers. He last appeared in an NHL game on Dec. 7 in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. He has a plus/minus of +4 while averaging just over 14 minutes per game. Zamula played in 13 games for the Flyers, posting an assist back on Oct. 20, when Philadelphia came away with a 5-2 win at home over the Seattle Kraken.

Zamula is in the second season of a two-year contract that he signed with the Flyers in July 2024. The deal has an AAV of $1.7 million. According to multiple reports, there are multiple NHL teams interested in signing him if he clears.

In 168 NHL regular-season games, Zamula has scored eight goals and 33 assists for 41 points. In 130 AHL contests, he has posted five goals and 51 assists for 56 points.

Prior to turning pro, Zamula had been a solid blueliner for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, even scoring 56 points in 61 games during the 2018-19 season. He’s also represented his country on multiple occasions, including helping Russia take home the silver medal at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he was named one of the top three players on his team.