Intriguing Flyers prospect sees his ‘dream' opportunity alongside Provorov

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VOORHEES, N.J. — Egor Zamula felt a rush when he saw his name pop up alongside Ivan Provorov's on one of the monitors before practice Friday at Flyers Training Center.

"A dream come true," he said.

The native of Russia just turned 22 years old last month and has looked up to Provorov, his fellow countryman. Zamula is a defenseman like Provorov. He has transformed himself from a skinny undrafted prospect into one of the more touted blueliners in the Flyers' system.

As the Flyers visit the Sabres on Saturday (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP+), Zamula will see a glimpse of what he has envisioned throughout his development.

"When I signed a contract here with the Flyers, I told him right away it's my dream to play with you one time, maybe two times, maybe every time," Zamula said. "Today, before practice, I was watching TV and I saw my name with Provy together. ... He told me he was going to help me to play better, teach me something and enjoy."

The 23-40-11 Flyers have long been out of the playoff picture this season. With eight games left on their schedule, they'll continue to give audition time to younger pieces. On the back end, the Flyers are currently without Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), Cam York (lower body) and Nick Seeler (lower body).

The injuries have opened the door for Zamula to show what he can do with Provorov on the Flyers' top pair.

"Want to do that and also want to give him what he deserves," Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said. "I thought he played a really strong game last game. I think that him and Provy should be pretty excited; I heard them speaking Russian to each other out there, so the communication's good I think. I don't know what they were saying, but it's good to hear them talking."

Zamula is a willowy, lefty-shot defenseman with all sorts of puck-moving traits. He'll play his off side with Provorov, but Yeo said Zamula has been "comfortable and playing the right side a lot" at AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.

He's still pretty slender, though, needing to add more strength to his frame. At 6-foot-3, 177 pounds, Zamula said this summer will be big for him and he wants to spend it in the gym.

A lot can change from now until next season, but could Zamula be nearing the point where he's competing for NHL playing time?

"Certainly hope so," Yeo said. "He's got all the tools. I think that his summer is going to dictate a lot of that as far as getting stronger, the time that he spends in the gym and the work that he puts in to being physically fit enough to be an NHL player on a nightly basis. It's one thing to come up and do it for one or two games. It's a very grinding schedule, it's a very demanding season that you have to go out and perform night after night. But he certainly has all the ability.

"He's learning how to play the game with his head, how to separate guys with his stick. But certainly there's a physical element to the game, especially when you're a defenseman. Whether it's how you defend down low and how you compete in battles, especially around the front of your net, those types of things.

"It's not that he's shown any of those weaknesses necessarily when we've called him up, I think he's done a good job. But it's a different story when you have to do it for 82 games of a regular season."

Four games into his NHL career, Zamula is looking for his first point. Perhaps he'll get it alongside Provorov.

"Sometimes I need to play simple. Sometimes you go jump into the offensive zone and help your forwards to score goals," Zamula said. "But I think first for me, I need to play defense hard.

"Play hard every game. It's the best league in the world, it's a dream. You wake up every morning and you need to come to the rink and enjoy, work hard with a smile on the face."

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