The Calgary Flames and Connor Zary are nearing an agreement, according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman.
On Friday afternoon, Friedman posted on social media that the Flames and Zary are nearing a three-year contract extension valued at just under US$3.8 million annually.
Getting Zary to put pen to paper represents the final big bit of business for Flames GM Craig Conroy this off-season. Zary, 23, was a restricted free-agent this summer and Conroy said in late July that negotiations had been slow, but he was fully confident a deal would get done.
Zary was the Flames’ first-round draft pick, 24th overall, in 2020 and broke into the team in the 2023-24 season, scoring 14 goals and adding 20 assists as a rookie.
In Year 2, he picked up right where he left off, only to have his 2024-25 season derailed by two separate knee injuries that limited him to only 54 games. He still managed to score 13 goals and add 14 assists.
From Dec. 1 until Jan. 5, when he suffered his first knee injury, he managed 10 points in 14 games. Only Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau collected more over that stretch.
While Zary’s reported deal will earn him considerably less than the seven-year, $45-million deal Matt Coronato scored earlier this spring, his potential remains sky-high and there’s a good chance the Flames will try to give him time playing at centre this season.
The deal also means that Zary will be expected to be available from the very start of training camp.