Flyers re-sign defenseman Egor Zamula to a two-year deal

General manager Danny Brière checked off one of the last boxes on his summer to-do list Sunday by re-signing Egor Zamula.

The restricted free agent inked a two-year deal with an average annual value of $1.7 million. Zamula was coming off a one-year deal for $775,000.

After playing in 26 games across his first three seasons with the Flyers, Zamula skated in 66 games this past season. He notched five goals, including his first NHL marker on Oct. 17 against the Vancouver Canucks, and had 16 assists. Nine of his points came on the power play as he utilized his booming shot from the point to score or set up his teammates for a rebound.

But it was his first full NHL season. The undrafted 24-year-old Russian was in and out of the lineup as coach John Tortorella said he could learn a lot from watching games in the press box.

“I work with coaches, we watch videos; coaches like to help me, like D partners as well,” Zamula told The Inquirer in December. “So I’m learning from that some. I think I had a lot of times the stick in both hands, but [the stick] needs to go into one hand. So he teaches me in the video. … I need to put my stick in one hand when they do go one-on-one. It’s a learning process.”

Tortorella did see improvements in the 6-foot-3, 200-pound defenseman as the season wore on. A week after Zamula keyed in on playing looser and not always using two hands on his stick, the bench boss noted an uptick. He also credited the Russian blueliner with seeing the ice well but added that he still struggled with moving the puck quickly.

“I remember we played in Carolina and I had a bad turnover. Torts told me before a game to play faster and move the puck quicker. I had a bad turnover — bad mistake by me. He put me on the bench and I watched [rest of] the game on the bench,” he said, referencing the game on Nov. 15 when he watched the final 21 minutes, 52 seconds from the pine. “I’m watching and I’m thinking how I need to play. Next game I tried the same play but I moved the puck quicker and I have a good play.

“You learn from these big mistakes and small mistakes.”

As the season progressed, and he worked with veterans Marc Staal and Erik Johnson, Zamula’s game continued to evolve. He started finding his game more and more, specifically stating on locker cleanout day he felt more comfortable and playing faster around the 30-game mark.

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Zamula also seemed to get a boost with his power-play time. He showed his hockey acumen by slowing the game down and settling things in the offensive zone as the point man. His decision making and quickness — and confidence — with moving the puck started to show. Now, the next step is putting it all together.

“He has more to grow,” Tortorella said after the season ended. “I think toward the end of the year, a long year, in a situation where he’s put in a lot of spots, was inconsistent. That’s a big man that has the willingness to make a play, a willingness to look through plays, hold on to pucks and make plays.

“Helped our power play; well, our power play stunk, but helped it at certain times but fell off. I thought he took a big step in the right direction in progressing, as our team did. I think our team progressed. I think he progressed. I still think there needs to be more as we keep on working with him.”