Connor Zary is ready for full-time duties with the Calgary Flames

Three goals and six points through your first 6 games is nothing to understate as a rookie in the NHL, especially for the Calgary Flames’ 2020 24th overall pick, Connor Zary.

Zary experienced his first multi-point game in his young NHL career, and if anyone you know notions at the idea of sending this kid back to the Calgary Wranglers, you don’t need their toxicity in your life.

Flames fans have been clamouring for an injection of youth for the last few years and first-year GM Craig Conroy has been true to his word in giving the younger generation a shot in the show.

Starting with Matt Coronato, who made the team right out of training camp, to seeing Martin Pospisil and Dustin Wolf get opportunities with the big squad, one name has stuck out above all the rest: Connor Zary.

Zary hasn’t just shown his effectiveness on the score sheet. The 22-year-old Saskatoon native has looked like a true NHLer. He’s tenacious on pucks, stout defensively, and elevating other players on his line.

Since joining the Flames against the Dallas Stars on November 1st, he helped right the ship that was Nazem Kadri’s abysmal start to the season. Before playing with Zary, Kadri was a buy-out-worthy (1-2-3) and -11 through his first nine games. In his last six outings, number 91 is (2-5-7), a +1, and he has been back to his old self, driving play and being a leader on his line.

Head coach Ryan Huska said it best, post-game in a come-back win against the Nashville Predators, in which Kadri had a goal and an assist:

“I know he’s older now, but I think he’s maturing to the point where he’s realizing he’s not just a player that has to perform his role. He has an obligation now to help bring other people along.”

Playing with Kadri, Zary is posting a shot percentage of 27.3, clearly not afraid to fire the puck. Something the Flames have desperately needed since the trading of Tyler Toffoli in the offseason.

Number 47 is also sitting at +2; for a rookie forward on a team sitting 26th in league standings, that is great to see.

Since getting the promotion, Calgary has gone 3-2-1 with Zary averaging 16:53 of ice time per game. The record in their last six is mediocre at best, but for a team that started 2-7, anything positive is a serotonin booster.

Don’t get me wrong either, just because the team has had some semblance of success with Zary, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t go ahead with the franchise’s forbidden “R-word”.

If anything, this should give fans hope that even with a rebuild, we would have great young players to watch in the meantime. Just look at how Martin Pospisil and Ilya Solvoyov have done in their small sample sizes.

One thing about Zary that really gets the gears turning in my head is his ability as a centreman. While playing his junior era with the Kamloops Blazers, he was the team’s top-line centre putting up 24 points in 15 games during the 2020-21 campaign.

However, once he joined the Calgary Wranglers (Stockton Heat at the time) he was pushed into a role on the wing, which was further cemented with the signing of Kadri in 2022, nailing down the Flames centre depth.

If Calgary finally decides to sell and makes drastic changes to the core, Zary would be an excellent fit to take the team’s number two centre spot (going off the assumption Kadri’s contract is immovable).

Besides a complete tear-down, the only other thing fans can hope for is Jakob Pelletier giving Jonathan Huberdeau a similar bump up, once he returns to the lineup from his pre-season injury.

To wrap things up on a positive, here’s Zary’s first NHL career goal: