Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula knows more of ‘what to expect’ heading into Year No. 2

Egor Zamula is ready to take his game up another notch.

After playing in 26 games across his first three seasons with the Flyers, the 6-foot-3 defenseman is coming off his first full NHL season, where he played in 66 games and registered 21 points (five goals, 16 assists), including nine on the power play.

But he also spent almost a quarter of the season watching from the press box as a healthy scratch. He does not want to repeat that this season.

So what’s a defenseman to do?

“Step up,” he said. “A new level, I think I can do that. I didn’t play too much offense last year because it’s [my] first year, and you need to play D first and show coaches I can play in this league. But this year is going to be more confidence for me, and I want to step up because if you do not step up, you are out of the lineup.”

Speaking to the media after the season ended, coach John Tortorella said the young defenseman had a lot of upside and room to grow. He liked that he is a “big man that has the willingness to make a play, a willingness to look through plays, hold on to pucks, and make plays.” However, while he took a “big step in the right direction,” he noted that Zamula also struggled with his consistency as the season wore on.

“I think for him, he stops moving his feet,” associate coach Brad Shaw said Saturday. “I think he stops seeing the ice a little bit as well as when he’s on. And those two things are pretty consistent through most defensemen.

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“If you’re ready to skate on loose pucks and you have your eyes up so your decision-making is situationally correct, you’re usually making good plays, and we’re usually on the attack a lot less than we’re defending. That’s the balance that we’re trying to create.”

Zamula spent most of the summer at home in Russia training and working on playing faster and getting quicker, two areas he was inconsistent in last season but notably improved as the schedule rolled on. He especially worked on his skating in preparation for Tortorella’s infamous rope test and training camp. The 24-year-old said he is mentally stronger this year, and “when you’re mentally stronger, this year is perhaps easier for me mentally.”

“He’s always had poise. That’s really been his best asset, is he could be in the midst of a maelstrom, and his pulse wouldn’t rise, and he’d make a real poised puck play,” said Shaw, who runs the defense. “He’s a big guy with a long reach that can defend a lot of bigger guys because of that reach.

“I think he’s done a great job of showing what he can do away from the puck, and a lot of times, that’s one of your biggest challenges as a young defenseman. How well do you play away from the puck? And I think he’s done an exceptional job of learning there and growing there and getting better at it.”

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Although the top six defensemen were pretty much set in stone, Zamula has proven his case with his steady play in training camp. He threw his body around in scrimmages, notched a goal, and showed his hockey acumen by slowing the game down and settling things in the offensive zone — not just on the power play.

In his one preseason game, a 5-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, he and partner Rasmus Ristolainen were the only Flyers who did not have a negative plus-minus, and Zamula skated a game-high 23 minutes, 34 seconds. He was set to play Saturday night against the Boston Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center.

“He’s one of those puck movers that can hold onto it that split second longer than most guys are willing to do and that’s what separates them from the other guys,” Shaw said. “That’s what makes him a little bit harder to check at times because guys will come [from the other team], and when a defenseman will normally move it, well he’s not moving it. ... All of a sudden now the play he makes traps that guy, and we’ve created an advantage, and that’s really the whole point of why we’re moving the puck.

“He’s got a skill set that helps us not spend so much time in our zone, and that’s exactly what we’re looking for from our defense.”

Patience is key but so is growth. Zamula has not shied away from always learning and growing his game, and it should help him even more that he is expected to be an everyday guy on the blue line this season. At the end of last season, he said he started to feel more comfortable and was able to play the game faster, around the 30-game mark — which at the time was Game 39 for the team.

“When you’re playing in the NHL, the first year, it’s very tough. You didn’t know any teams,” he added. “Second year, you know what to expect from this league and how you need to play to be in the lineup every night. So I work on that, and I hope I have a good year for me.”

Matvei Michkov skated on the left wing, alongside Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, at the morning skate. ... Jett Luchanko was between veterans Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink. ... Hunter McDonald and Oliver Bonk got another look on defense against the Bruins.