Egor Zamula has had a bit of a whirlwind start to his NHL career. Always just coming in for a brief slate of games due to some injury to a fellow defenseman who is above him on the depth chart, or getting a late-season spotlight as someone to look for as a future regular. This season, he has solidified himself as capable of playing on an NHL blue line, with 55 games played and a respectable ability to be a two-way contributor.
Even beyond getting able to play regularly on the Flyers, the 23-year-old blueliner is able to get some more confidence with his on-ice attitude. It has been almost three full years since Zamula made his NHL debut, and now, he is seeing the upper crust of the league and the legendary stars at the top of their game, as just a different challenge and not as someone to get starstruck by. He made that clear during Monday’s practice.
“When you’re playing first time against new players like Crosby, Matthews, or whatever,” Zamula said via The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, “you be like, okay, I need to slow them down because these guys are very skilled and very good.
“But now I’m like, fuck it. I’ll go play against (them). It’s dream. It’s fun.”
In just Zamula’s third ever NHL game, he had to face Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins. The next game, it was the Rangers and Artemi Panarin. Fast forward three games from there, and it was Auston Matthews in Toronto. He has had his fair share of stargazing early on, but now that he is feeling firm and secure as a capable defender in the best hockey league in the world, his confidence while facing these upper-echelon players is clearly through the roof. They are just another player that he has to try and prevent from scoring.
It truly seems like instead of worrying about the circumstances, Zamula has fully accepted the occasion and will just try his best against the stars. You have to love the ability to just shed any immature nervousness as a defenseman.
With the Flyers’ upcoming schedule chock-full of the best teams in the NHL, Zamula should have plenty of opportunities to say “fuck it”.
