The story of Yegor Zamula in Pennsylvania received an unexpected but seemingly logical continuation. The Pittsburgh Penguins put the Russian defenseman up for waivers in order to terminate his contract. The formal reason was the player’s failure to appear at the location of the Wilkes-Barry farm club in the AHL, but behind this decision there is a much longer chain of events.

Reason: failure to show up at the farm club

Journalist Frank Seravalli reported Pittsburgh’s decision. According to his information, the club sent Yegor Zamula to the waiver draft precisely to terminate the current agreement.

Earlier, the Penguins suspended the 25-year-old Russian for not arriving at the team’s AHL farm club, Wilkes-Barry. After this, it became clear that the parties were moving towards separation; the only question was the form and timing.

Egor Zamula / Photo: © Leila Devlin / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Zamula did not play a single match for the Pittsburgh main team. His contract runs until the end of the current season, and the cap hit is $1.7 million – a considerable amount for a player who has never taken the ice.

Deja vu: a month ago Zamula already went through the waiver draft

It is curious that the current situation is the second in a short period of time. About a month ago, Zamula found himself on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers. Then any NHL club could pick up a defender within 24 hours, and Pittsburgh took advantage of this right. Thus, Zamula literally changed from one Pennsylvania club to another in just a few weeks, but failed to gain a foothold in the new team.

Egor Zamula / Photo: © Mitchell Leff / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Zamula’s transfer to Pittsburgh was completed through a trade. The Flyers gave away the Russian defenseman and in return received forward Philip Tomasino. The deal was officially confirmed by Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas.

On paper, the trade looked mutually beneficial: both players had contracts until the end of the season and similar cap hit. However, in practice, for Zamula, this trade became only an intermediate point – he did not play a single minute for Pittsburgh and quickly found himself outside the club’s plans.

Changing agent and readiness for a new contract

Zamula has played 13 games for Philadelphia this season. His personal statistics look modest: one assist, a +4 utility rating, and an average playing time of 14:01.

In addition, he played three games in the AHL for Lehigh Valley, where he scored two (0+2) points with a utility of -3. These are not the numbers that automatically close a player’s path to the league, but also not those that make him irreplaceable.

Egor Zamula / Photo: © Scott Taetsch / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Even before the exchange, information appeared that Zamula was ready to terminate his contract with Philadelphia without compensation and sign a new agreement for a lesser amount. The defenseman changed agents and began working with Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey – a move that usually indicates a desire to restart his career and find more flexible options.

According to PuckPedia, several NHL clubs remain interested in Zamula, and after terminating his contract with Pittsburgh, he will likely sign a new agreement. In Russia, Zamula played for the Traktor and Metallurg teams, but he has no plans to return to his homeland in the near future. The defender intends to continue his career in North America at least until the end of the season.

Now it’s time for a reset for Zamula. And judging by the interest from other clubs, the end to this story has not yet been set.