After beginning the 2023-24 season with a win against the Winnipeg Jets, the Calgary Flames have gone a dismal 1-7-1 since. The team seemingly isn’t able to shake the failure of last season, where the team went 38-27-17 and just missed out on the playoffs. The vast majority of Flames players aren’t carrying their weight in terms of production, both offensive and defensive. As of this writing, the team has scored a total of just 22 goals in ten games, while having allowed a whopping 38. Lots of negative events have plagued the Flames thus far, the most prominent being a season-opening injury to budding young star Jakob Pelletier and a four-game suspension for their best defenseman Rasmus Andersson.
Regardless, new general manager Craig Conroy and new head coach Ryan Huska’s preseason visions are clearly not coming to fruition, and should the team lose a few more games in regulation any hope of playoffs will become quite slim. Before getting hasty with a big trade, sometimes if the older veterans can’t get it done and injection of youth can make a difference. That’s exactly what the organization did by calling up American Hockey League standout Connor Zary on Halloween. He would make his NHL debut the next night, a 4-3 loss at the Scotiabank Saddledome courtesy of the Dallas Stars. Let’s analyze the body of work that earned him this spot, as well as his debut performance and future outlook on the team.
Excellent Play At Every Level
The Flames originally drafted Zary in the first round, 24th overall back in the 2020 Entry Draft. This came on the heels of a very successful junior career spent in the Western Hockey League as a member of the storied Kamloops Blazers franchise. With the Blazers, he suited up for 203 contests and scored at over a point-per-game pace with 79 goals and 206 total points. He served as the team’s captain for the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 season. During his time with the team, the Blazers won two B.C Division titles and if it weren’t for the pandemic, there would most likely have been more accolades achieved.
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Zary made the full-time switch to professional hockey for the 2021-22 AHL campaign as a member of the Flames’ then-farm team, the Stockton Heat. He underwhelmed many with just 13 goals and 25 points in 53 games, followed by just two points in 13 playoff matches. Zary made plenty of personal goals for enhancement in the adjacent offseason, and they paid off, as he drastically improved to 21 goals and 58 points in 72 games last season with the Calgary Wranglers. So far, in 2023-24, he is tied for eighth in the league and leads all Wranglers skaters with ten points through six games. His two-way game is better as well, as he has been stronger in the faceoff dot and boasts a plus-4 rating.
Zary’s NHL Outlook
In his first matchup in the bigs, Zary did not look out of place. Placed on a line with Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich, he was able to score his first career NHL goal on Stars starting netminder Jake Oettinger within the first six minutes of the game. Zary also finished tied with Kadri for the most shots on goal among forwards with six. Unfortunately, the Stars scored twice when Zary was on, so he had a minus-1 rating for the contest. In addition, Zary took a minor penalty for cross-checking, though lucky for him, the Flames were able to kill it off.
Overall, the debut was a great one. Not many players score their first goal in their first game, nor do they tend to stand out offensively amongst their more proven, veteran peers. Zary is remaining with the Flames for the foreseeable future, and if he continues to play as he did against the Stars, he could stick around for the rest of the 2023-24 season. If the other forwards keep underperforming, AHL call-ups can continue to come in, get reps, and create sparks throughout the year. Zary’s name will be at the top of this list. He could benefit from continuing to star in the minors and get more playing time, but that would only be necessary if his play starts dwindling with the Flames. As it sits, Zary is in the top six of an NHL squad.
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To end off, Zary is undoubtedly having his best season of hockey yet. He looked outstanding in his debut, and Flames fans and media alike will surely be hoping he can continue to play like he did against the Stars. Perhaps his will and determination to compete at the NHL level will ignite a passion amongst his teammates, and the squad can right their otherwise sinking ship.