The recall is head-scratching at face value. After producing a mediocre 4-8-1 record and a .870 save percentage in 15 games with the Flyers, the organization decided to try Kolosov at the AHL level a little over a week ago.

Kolosov’s results in Lehigh Valley weren’t much better. He posted a 2-4-1 record in seven games, with a .874 SV% and a 3.59 goals-against average. Still, while it’s not entirely the fault of the goaltenders, and it is merely wishful thinking that Kolosov would have produced a different outcome, the Flyers are 2-4-0 since sending him down and have given up 20 goals in that stretch.

The Minsk, Belarus native may receive one or two more starting opportunities with Philadelphia in the coming week. However, this is not the most promising route for him to secure more starts. The Flyers have faced significant goaltending issues this season, and Kolosov’s subpar performance has contributed to this problem.

Ginning is heading to a familiar environment fresh off making his season debut in Philadelphia. He skated in 12:48 of last night’s loss to the New York Islanders adding one hit and one blocked shot to the team’s total. He could be back with the Flyers soon given the team only has six healthy defensemen on the roster without him.

Philadelphia had to make a roster move after yesterday’s acquisition of Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier from the Calgary Flames. Moving to the last part of the transaction, Zamula finally lands on the injured reserve after missing the past four games. Once he’s healthy enough to return, Kolosov or forward Rodrigo Abols will likely be reassigned to AHL Lehigh Valley.

Zamula played through his first full season in the NHL this year, recording five goals and 21 points across 66 games with the Flyers. It was his first taste of an everyday role at the top level, after spending the last three seasons bouncing between the NHL and AHL lineups. He played through 26 total NHL games prior to this year, recording just four assists – all tallied in the 14 games he played with Philadelphia last season. Zamula has otherwise been stout in the minor leagues, where he’s totaled 54 points across 127 career games.

Having proven his worth at the top level this year, the two-way Zamula now gets a golden chance to carve out a confident spot in the Flyers lineup on this two-year deal. Zamula notably ends the contract with one year of RFA eligibility remaining, giving him a bit more security amid a deep Flyers defense corps. He’ll be competing with players like Erik Johnson, Nick Seeler, and Ronnie Attard for ice time near the bottom of Philadelphia’s lineup.

As the only restricted free agent of the players mentioned, Raymond does not have the same bargaining rights as Perron and Kane, as he is still unable to file for arbitration, let alone hit the open market. Having managed a 14-goal and 13-assist jump on his scoring from the 2022-23 NHL season, Raymond could have earned himself a long-term deal with Detroit this summer. However, considering how the contract negotiations played out between Yzerman and captain Dylan Larkin last year, the savvy General Manager will stay prudent with his available cap space. Regardless of Raymond taking a bridge or max-term contract, his cap hit should take a decent chunk out of the Red Wings’ cap for next season.

In Perron and Kane, the former has demonstrated more of a public desire to keep his career going in the Motor City. As LeBrun mentions in the article, Yzerman may want Raymond’s contract settled before pivoting to Perron. On the other hand, Kane has been much more vague about continuing his career in Detroit and may look for a multi-year deal after an impressive rebound season with a team closer to top-tier contention.

Other free agency notes:

• Late last night, the agency group for defenseman Yegor Zamula of the Philadelphia Flyers, Shumi Babaev Agency, indicated that the player and team would commence contract negotiation talks shortly. Zamula, hitting restricted free agency for the second time in his career, has earned arbitration rights this summer, giving him and his agency more leverage in negotiating salary. Furthermore, Zamula’s play over the 2023-24 NHL season has also increased the defenseman’s leverage this summer, scoring five goals and 21 points over 66 games, which is far and away the best production of his career up to this point.
• In the same announcement from the Shumi Babaev Agency — the Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to begin contract talks with forward Yegor Chinakhov. Unlike Zamula, Chinakhov has not yet earned arbitration rights but is coming off a 16-goal campaign, good for fourth on the team in goal-scoring. Chinakhov’s production from this past season could be an outlier, as he saw his average time on ice jump nearly two minutes under current head coach Pascal Vincent. Nevertheless, with the Blue Jackets being desperate for offensive production, there should be plenty of motivation for a new deal on both sides of the negotiation.

Kane will look to become the third NHL player to return from a hip resurfacing surgery, with top centerman Nicklas Backstrom representing the second to ever return. Backstrom made it back for the second half of the 2022-23 season, and eight games this season, but is currently on a leave of absence from the Washington Capitals due to complications with his injury.

Thursday night will mark only the 20th regular-season game that Kane has played outside of the Chicago Blackhawks organization. He joined the New York Rangers at last season’s trade deadline, appearing in 19 games and scoring 12 points with the club. These performances brought his career totals to 1180 games, 451 goals, and 1237 points. Kane was originally the first-overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft.

Other notes from around the league:

• The Buffalo Sabres have announced that Rasmus Dahlin is dealing with a lower-body injury and is questionable for the team’s Thursday game against the Boston Bruins. The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski shared that the team is still evaluating his status and what next steps may need to be taken. Dahlin has 21 points in 26 games this season, ranking seventh among all NHL defenders. Lysowski’s colleague, Mike Harrington, shared that Dahlin will travel to Boston with the team, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is dealing with illness and will not.
• Arizona Coyotes defenseman Sean Durzi is day-to-day and doubtful for the team’s upcoming Thursday game. However, Coyotes insider Craig Morgan shared that Durzi is expected to join the team on their upcoming three-game road trip.

The Maple Leafs will get a second buyout window if an arbitration-eligible player files for arbitration.  That would be RFA Ilya Samsonov so expect him to be one of many players filing for arbitration by Thursday’s deadline.  But that’s Plan B for them.  For now, GM Brad Treliving will be shopping around to see who’s willing to take on that contract and just how much it will cost in an incentive to do so.

Elsewhere in the East:

• When Detroit waived Filip Zadina yesterday, the move came as a surprise. However, GM Steve Yzerman told reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that the youngster had requested a trade a couple of weeks prior to the draft.  Clearly, that didn’t materialize and after he cleared today, it’s back to the drawing board on that front.  Zadina has two years left on a contract that carries a $1.825MM AAV and it appears that the Red Wings will need to pay some of that down or take a similar contract back if they want to move him.  Alternatively, the fact he cleared now suggests they could waive him in training camp, saving $1.15MM in cap room in the process for any time that he’s in the minors.
• Flyers prospect Yegor Zamula is on the move…in the KHL, that is as Torpedo announced that they’ve acquired his KHL rights from SKA St. Petersburg. The 23-year-old split last season between Philadelphia and AHL Lehigh Valley.  With the Flyers, Zamula had four assists in 14 games while logging a little over 13 minutes per night.  However, he was more productive with the Phantoms, notching 19 points in 44 contests.  Zamula is already under contract for the upcoming season on a one-way deal worth the NHL minimum.  Coyotes unsigned prospect Ilya Fedotov was also part of the four-player swap.

An undrafted player coming from the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, Zamula did not make his Flyers organization debut until the 2020-21 season. In that season, he managed to suit up in two games for the Flyers, scoring zero points. Primarily playing for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Zamula played in 26 games, garnering six assists.

Last season, Zamula would fail to score again for the Flyers in ten games but did manage to suit up in 58 games for the Phantoms, scoring four goals and 25 assists. This year went much better for Zamula in the NHL, skating in 14 games for Philadelphia, and adding four assists. Once again playing a majority of his games in Lehigh Valley, Zamula managed to score one goal and 18 assists.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

• The Flyers’ AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley announced that defenseman Yegor Zamula underwent successful shoulder surgery back on April 10th, ending his season. While the 23-year-old won’t be able to play in Lehigh Valley’s playoff run, he will be ready to participate in training camp in September.  Zamula played in 14 games with Philadelphia this season, picking up four assists in 14 games while chipping in with a goal and 18 helpers in 44 contests with the Phantoms.
• While they weren’t in uniform tonight, the Lightning have recalled defenseman Philippe Myers and winger Alex Barre-Boulet from AHL Syracuse, relays Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The pair were listed on the roster report as healthy scratches.  With Syracuse not playing in the first round of the playoffs in the minors, it’s possible that the two players will stay up with Tampa Bay for a few days.  Myers played in 11 games this season with the Lightning while Barre-Boulet suited up just once.

While the Phantoms are unlikely to be able to catch the Hershey Bears for the second seed in the AHL’s Atlantic Division (therefore securing them a bye past the best-of-three first round of the playoffs) they could still feasibly catch the Charlotte Checkers to earn the third seed, which could be a factor that motivated these two loans.

Foerster in particular has made this decision a difficult one due to how well he’s played in his first taste of NHL action. Foerster is riding a five-game point streak with three goals and seven points in that span. The Flyers have won four out of their last five games as well, with their only loss coming in overtime against the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

While this is unlikely to have been any significant motivator to the team sending Foerster back to the AHL, the Flyers are now four points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for the fifth-best odds in the draft lottery.

By sending their red-hot rookie scorer back to the AHL, the Flyers have (perhaps not intentionally) raised their chances of getting back into prime Connor Bedard contention.

There is, of course, a legitimate case to be made that this is the most appropriate choice for Foerster’s development, and that’s likely to be the sole reason the Flyers have sent him down.

Despite how much NHL front offices seem to value gaining the best odds in the draft lottery, a team is still far more likely to make decisions on individual players based on what they believe to be best for the player’s development.

It’s reasonable to believe that having Foerster play a crucial role in meaningful AHL games for the rest of this season will be better for his development than playing some extra NHL contests near the end of what has been a generally miserable Flyers season.

The 21-year-old 2020 first-round pick has excelled in the AHL this season, thoroughly bouncing back after an injury-plagued 2021-22. He’s scored 19 goals and 39 points in 57 games and will be counted on as a top offensive option for second-year head coach Ian Laperriere.

If the Phantoms end up making any noise in the Calder Cup playoffs, it’s likely that Foerster will be a major reason why.

As for Zamula, he heads back to the AHL where he, like Foerster, has spent most of this season. The 22-year-old has scored 16 points in 42 AHL games and has been a top-pairing all-situations blueliner for the team.

Eligible for restricted free agency in the summer, a strong showing as a number-one defenseman for a Calder Cup playoff team would put Zamula in a strong position for offseason contract negotiations, and help support the idea that he’ll be ready to compete for a more regular NHL role in next fall’s training camp.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

This is Zamula’s fourth recall of the season but his first in almost four months. As the season winds down, the Flyers will continue to focus on shifting ice time to their younger players.

At 22, Zamula is one of the more highly-regarded defense prospects in the organization. In 11 games with Philadelphia this season, he’s registered two assists, his first points in the NHL.

Set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, Zamula is still looking to find his offensive footing in the minors. His 16 points in 42 games with Lehigh Valley are a step back from last year’s totals and a further step back from his last two seasons in junior hockey with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, where he neared a point-per-game pace.

Zamula’s recall gives Philadelphia eight defensemen on the NHL roster, and it’s unclear how they’ll slot the undrafted prospect into their lineup, if at all. They’ll have plenty of opportunity, though, with four games left on their current seven-game homestand.

York, 21, was the 14th pick in 2019 and is still seen as a top prospect in the Philadelphia organization, even if his opportunity at the NHL level has been limited. He played 30 games with the team last year and was pushed hard by head coach John Tortorella in the preseason, but ended up failing to make it past the final cuts. After putting up 13 points in 20 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, perhaps he’ll get another chance to show he can help the Flyers.

In yesterday’s loss to the Washington Capitals, Nick Seeler and Justin Braun each played fewer than 16 minutes, with the former not seeing any time on special teams. It would be a difficult spot for York to make his season debut tomorrow, against the 19-8-1 Vegas Golden Knights.

Zamula, meanwhile, has played in just 11 games with the Flyers this season but continues to be given practice time with the club. His demotion today was planned to give him the opportunity to play big minutes in Lehigh Valley while Philadelphia was on the road, since he wasn’t expected to get in the lineup.

Konecny has not played since November 17, meaning a retroactive placement on IR would allow him to be activated whenever healthy. The forward was on the ice today (along with James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton), rehabbing his injury.

Zamula, meanwhile, is back after a short stint in the minor leagues. As Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic explains, the young defenseman was only sent down because of the Flyers’ busy schedule, which didn’t allow for much practice time.

Now at home for five games that all have at least one day between them, there will be plenty of time for Zamula to get on the ice with the rest of the NHL squad, even if he still ends up a healthy scratch at times.

The Flyers have lost ten in a row and now sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division.

Zamula, 22, is already way ahead of most undrafted defensemen in terms of development but given his upside, it’s important to keep him playing as much as possible. The last time he suited up for Philadelphia was November 5, and even then he played just over nine minutes of ice time. Through nine appearances this season, he has two points – the first two of his young career.

Signed out of the WHL in 2018, the big Russian defenseman quickly stormed his way to the NHL, making his debut in the 2020-21 season. He’s played 21 games overall, but still isn’t trusted to be one of the team’s regular six just yet. The Phantoms will certainly take him back with open arms, though, as he was outstanding for them last year with 29 points in 58 games.

In a platform year, with his entry-level contract expiring at the end of the season, a lack of NHL playing time will actually make Zamula cheaper for the Flyers to sign next summer. That said, if the team suffers any more injuries on defense, he’ll likely be one of the first call-ups.