The Calgary Flames have made a roster transaction, recalling 2020 first-round draft pick Connor Zary from the Calgary Wranglers!
Zary’s development path so far
Since being selected by the Calgary Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft, Zary has spent the last four seasons primarily in the AHL. In his first season after the draft, he finished his WHL career as the captain of the Kamloops Blazers, then went on to join the Stockton Heat. Since then, he’s scored over 100 points in his AHL career, with his best season coming last year with the Wranglers where he posted 21 goals and 37 assists over 72 games.
However, Zary has started the 2023–24 on an even better pace, already posting 10 points (one goal and nine assists) in just six games. His 10 points has him tied for seventh in the entire AHL in scoring, but he’s also reached that number in the fewest games played so far.
Zary’s projection into the Flames lineup
At this point, it’s probably expected that Zary will rotate into a fourth line spot on paper, but with how the Flames have been using the line blender to start the season, that can rapidly change within even just one game. With Zary’s play style and the Flames’ struggles, he may even get reps in the top-six just to see if anything clicks for the forwards. We’ll soon learn with upcoming practises what the plan is for Zary.
Practise update: Zary is lining up with Nazem Kadri and Yegor Sharangovich to kick things off.
In addition to this recall, the Flames also sent Ilya Solovyov back down to the AHL yesterday with Rasmus Andersson returning from suspension.
