LD Yegor Zamula (2018 undrafted; signed by PHI)

[Dack]

I only saw the game against Kelowna but I'm kind of confused as to how he went undrafted because he's at the level of a first or second round pick.

He's good at moving the puck, good enough of a skater, very strong, good offensive instincts and a great shot.

The Hitmen's powerplay runs through him and the only player playing even close to his level was Malm on the Hitmen (also undrafted but out there looking like Mcdavid).

 

[Broad Street Buddies]

Anyone knows how to write "progress" in Russian?

2017-2018 :
69 games - 2 goals - 16 assists - 18 points

2018-2019 :
37 games - 8 goals - 26 assists - 34 points

...and it gets better...

First 10 games of this season :
0 goal - 1 assist - 1 points

Last 10 games of this season:
5 goals - 12 assists - 17 points

Not so bad for a 6'3 defenseman born in 2000.

 

[FrodoBeggins]

Anyone knows how to write "progress" in Russian?

Прогресс

 

[Tripod]

He keeps producing.

Now tied for 4th in WHL scoring for Dmen.
39 points in 41 games....38 points his last 31 games
22 points in his last 14 games

Anyone see any games that can add info? Looking like a steal. And still only 18 years old.

 

[Tripod]

To add, his season in blocks of 10 games.

First 10: 1 point
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 15 points
Played 1 game so far for the next block, has 3 points.

 

[Sticktape]

Definitely trending well.

 

[Rebels57]

Hextall's eye for young talent is almost second to none. Shame he couldn't do anything else well.

 

[Tripod]

His season by games.

First 10: 1 point
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 15 points
Next 10: 9 points, dealt with injuries, missed games too.

 

[Stive Morgan]

He keeps producing.

Now tied for 4th in WHL scoring for Dmen.
39 points in 41 games....38 points his last 31 games
22 points in his last 14 games

Anyone see any games that can add info? Looking like a steal. And still only 18 years old.

Definitely a steal, it's ridiculous that he was undrafted. The WHL is so overlooked, especially for defensemen. There's so many great D out here.

 

[Stizzle]

 

[Broad Street Buddies]

Zamula is not slowing down.

Since back from injury :
8 games | 1 G | 11 A | 12 points

Total season :
56 games | 10 G | 43 A | 53 points

Where would he go in a re-draft? Maybe in the 2nd round between other top WHL defenseman Jett Woo (37th) and Calen Addison (53th)?

 

[Stizzle]

From the Flyers forum yesterday...

His season by games.

First 10: 1 point
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 15 points
Next 10: 9 points
Next 5: 6 points

Pretty steady since the slow start.

 

[Tripod]

From the Flyers forum yesterday...

and that was before the 2 points last night, so has 8 points in last 6 games.

He would be a 2nd rounder based on the other guys around him in the WHL D scoring and where they were taken. Fingers crossed for our next Myers!

 

[Tripod]

His season by games.

First 10: 1 point
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 15 points
Next 10: 9 points
Next 11: 11 points

61 games: 56 points

Playoffs now over, 11 games, 7 points

Hell of a year from an undrafted Dman.

 

[Nabrules]

His season by games.

First 10: 1 point
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 15 points
Next 10: 9 points
Next 11: 11 points

61 games: 56 points

Playoffs now over, 11 games, 7 points

Hell of a year from an undrafted Dman.

He’s upped his stock so much that he’s an actual viable trade piece for the Flyers going forward

 

[Tripod]

He’s upped his stock so much that he’s an actual viable trade piece for the Flyers going forward

Or let him keep developing in case we lose a D in expansion. He could be a replacement with another Jr. and a AHL season under his belt.

 

[1865]

Interesting piece, slots quite nicely into our prospect pile now.

Where would you say he'd go in a re-draft?

 

[Tripod]

His season by games.

First 10: 1 point
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 10 points
Next 10: 15 points
Next 10: 9 points
Next 11: 11 points

61 games: 56 points

Playoffs now over, 11 games, 7 points

Hell of a year from an undrafted Dman.

Might as well continue with it this year since he has picked up right where he left off from last year.

Has 13 points in 9 games. Leads the WHL D in points, assist/game, pts/game and +/-(+15).

 

[Peter25]

His interview in allhockey: Замула: я не нужен "Трактору", туда начали приходить богатые дети - Новости - Allhockey.ru

He describes the reasons why he went to play junior hockey in Canada:

Firstly, it is a childhood dream to try something close to the NHL. For me, Canadian and American hockey is much faster. Here everyone gives the young player to develop: in terms of training, attitude towards the players. They are completely different. More focused on speed, there are completely different draws. Russian is not worse, it is just different. I’m more interested in playing in America and Canada than in Russia. The defenders there (approx. - in Russia) have a lot of time to make decisions. Even if you look at the Super Series games, the defenders were not given much time. America has a very fast first pass.

Quite a depressing read. These kids are totally misinformed about the realities of real life. If they bothered studying the history of Russians developing in NA juniors they would possibly know better and stay in Russia.

 

[greasysnapper]

His interview in allhockey: Замула: я не нужен "Трактору", туда начали приходить богатые дети - Новости - Allhockey.ru

He describes the reasons why he went to play junior hockey in Canada:

Quite a depressing read. These kids are totally misinformed about the realities of real life. If they bothered studying the history of Russians developing in NA juniors they would possibly know better and stay in Russia.

4/8 of the Russian dmen in the league are products of the CHL and I'd argue the top 3 (for sure the top 2) are all CHL products, including the best one who's also playing in the same organization and was also a WHL product.

His development path has been stellar when you consider his rise-- no one knew about him. He's easily the best dman in the WHL. With his combination of size, skill, and head he's a 1st round talent in a redraft. Right up there with Alexeyev who's also a WHL product and looks close to NHL ready. Not bad for a player that in all likelihood wouldn't have even been on any nhl team's radar at this point in his career.

Sure sounds depressing. Good thing he'll be surrounded by teddy bears today.

 

[Kshahdoo]

4/8 of the Russian dmen in the league are products of the CHL and I'd argue the top 3 (for sure the top 2) are all CHL products, including the best one who's also playing in the same organization and was also a WHL product.

His development path has been stellar when you consider his rise-- no one knew about him. He's easily the best dman in the WHL. With his combination of size, skill, and head he's a 1st round talent in a redraft. Right up there with Alexeyev who's also a WHL product and looks close to NHL ready. Not bad for a player that in all likelihood wouldn't have even been on any nhl team's radar at this point in his career.

Sure sounds depressing. Good thing he'll be surrounded by teddy bears today.

Still, Romanov won the best defenseman award at the last WJC, Russian team usually play great defense vs CHL teams in series, having mostly MHL/VHL defense. Russian teams won U17 World Challenge 2 years in a raw, Hlinka, and again, most (if not all) defensemen were from Russian leagues. On this coming WJC Zamula is our 4th (at best) defenseman, behind Romanov, Zhuravlev, Galenyuk. He's just factually wrong about Russian developing system. Does he really think, that KHL is slower, than CHL?

 

[greasysnapper]

Still, Romanov won the best defenseman award at the last WJC, Russian team usually play great defense vs CHL teams in series, having mostly MHL/VHL defense. Russian teams won U17 World Challenge 2 years in a raw, Hlinka, and again, most (if not all) defensemen were from Russian leagues. On this coming WJC Zamula is our 4th (at best) defenseman, behind Romanov, Zhuravlev, Galenyuk. He's just factually wrong about Russian developing system. Does he really think, that KHL is slower, than CHL?

From the translated quote I believe the speed isn't in regards to development speed, but rather the speed at which the game is played. And that is unequivocally true.

I think he's actually the best. In terms of NHL potential. I think Romanov might have a better tournament. But I'm only saying that because I think usage will likely be political and we'll see a Romanov a lot more than a Zamula.

Here's a good question for you... in the past number of years who are the NHL calibre defensemen who've cut their teeth in the KHL as young kids? The only 2 in the past 5-6 years I can think of are Rykov and Gavrikov, and Rykov still doesn't have any NHL experience under his belt, though I think that'll happen once he's back.

Things are shifting more and more, and I think that's why a lot of you Russian posters are calling out these decisions. You're seeing more and more of your good young players leaving, and the game played in front of you becoming a lesser and lesser product. I don't blame you, but I also don't blame players like Zamula. To me it's only a decision an individual can make. Some are well adjusted and can handle the transition like Zamula, others probably need more of a help due to the culture shock. Ultimately though I don't fault Zamula, and in this situation I think it worked out better for him. We'll see though, we'll see how he compares to some of the teammates he has on this WJC roster.

 

[denominator]

The way you guys are talking, it's as if the skill of the player has no impact on their development. Maybe you should consider that not all prospects are equal and not every hockey player develops along the same path?

I think trying to adjudicate whether the CHL or MHL/VHL system is better is a false premise and only serves to have everyone on either side dig into their established thought patterns further. The reason you see success from CHL imports in the NHL is that the game is more similar from junior to pro along that path than it is coming from Russia. The reason you see success from Russia at the international level is that the team is all playing the same style. It's the same reason that smaller market national teams like Czech and Slovakia tend to pull from the national teams rather than picking a bunch of N.A. import players: they already play the same system.

A player's career path is what defines where he should play his developmental years. If the goal is to be a pro hockey player, and has the opportunity to develop in Russia, then MHL/VHL is likely the right place for him. If the goal is to be an NHL hockey player, then the CHL is likely a better route because it is a game that more closely matches the NHL and allows the player to learn things like English sooner.

 

[Dust]

I remember watching his half a season with the Regina Pats, and he was not good. Nice to see him turn it around since the move to Calgary. May have just been an acclimation thing moving to North America.

 

[Eegs]

The way you guys are talking, it's as if the skill of the player has no impact on their development. Maybe you should consider that not all prospects are equal and not every hockey player develops along the same path?

I think trying to adjudicate whether the CHL or MHL/VHL system is better is a false premise and only serves to have everyone on either side dig into their established thought patterns further. The reason you see success from CHL imports in the NHL is that the game is more similar from junior to pro along that path than it is coming from Russia. The reason you see success from Russia at the international level is that the team is all playing the same style. It's the same reason that smaller market national teams like Czech and Slovakia tend to pull from the national teams rather than picking a bunch of N.A. import players: they already play the same system.

A player's career path is what defines where he should play his developmental years. If the goal is to be a pro hockey player, and has the opportunity to develop in Russia, then MHL/VHL is likely the right place for him. If the goal is to be an NHL hockey player, then the CHL is likely a better route because it is a game that more closely matches the NHL and allows the player to learn things like English sooner.

I see you have a Hitmen avatar...have you taken in any Hitmen games this year? If so, do you mind offering some of your thoughts on Zamula. The statline looks great, but I haven't seen him play this year.