In a surprise move, Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella yanked defenseman Egor Zamula from his lineup ahead of the game against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night, replacing him with top defense prospect Emil Andrae, who was called up from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday.
You might recall that Andrae, 22, was with the Flyers just five days prior to his return to Philadelphia, originally serving as the stand-in for Nick Seeler, who missed the start of the season due to numbness in his leg.
Andrae did not play at any point while Seeler was on the shelf, but managed to play ahead of Zamula immediately after being re-called.
And although the Flyers ultimately lost 4-3 to the visiting Canadiens, Tortorella utilizing Andrae, especially with the absence of Cam York weighing heavily on the team, was the right decision.
By the advanced analytics, Andrae had the best game of all the Flyers players against the Canadiens. In his minutes at 5-on-5, Andrae controlled the play constantly, owning a game-best 85.81% expected goals percentage against the Canadiens, per Moneypuck.
For reference, the next-closest Flyer was forward Scott Laughton, who came in at 74.71%. The next closest Flyers defenseman was Travis Sanheim, who had a 67.08% mark in addition to his two goals and one assist on the evening.
Taking a peek at the seasonal outlook so far, Zamula’s on-ice expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 is just 40.8%, the second-lowest figure on the team.
Andrae’s defense partner against the Canadiens, Erik Johnson, has the worst mark at 39.5%. The fact that Andrae (85.81%) and Johnson (66.05%) both played strong games suggests that Tortorella and the Flyers might have something here.
It is worth noting further that Andrae and Johnson regularly played together as a pair during the preseason. Those two clearly have chemistry together, and based on the comments from Tortorella and other Flyers players, chemistry is proving extremely hard to come by this season.
What happens when York returns from his injury is currently unclear. But what is clear is that Andrae is the team’s only means of replacing York’s mobility and puck-moving skills, two things that have plagued Zamula early this season.
Tortorella also admitted that he and his coaching staff have relied upon Zamula too heavily to translate and convey ideas to Matvei Michkov, and that could be affecting him, too.
“We’ve stopped using him as an interpreter,” Tortorella revealed before Sunday’s game. “I think we went a little bit too far there. It’s time that we talk to Mich. It’s just too much, and I think that’s affected him a little bit.”
Through 100 NHL games, it is hard to say who or what Zamula is as a player. He excelled in a limited role last season and even earned some power play time, but when it came to an expanded role and regular power play time this year, Zamula has struggled with his decision-making and defensive coverage.
It is too early in the season to pass any serious judgement on Zamula, but as a rebuilding team, the Flyers need to find out what they have in other players, too.
That includes Andrae, who is still young at 22 years old and possesses a number of traits that make for a good offensive defenseman at the NHL level. And he showed it on Sunday night against the Canadiens.
