Getting Connor Zary signed was the last big bit of business the Calgary Flames needed to get done this summer.
On Saturday morning, the Flames confirmed they’d signed their 23-year-old winger to a three-year contract extension that will pay him an average of US$3.375-million annually.
Negotiations may have stretched on longer than anyone would have ideally liked, but the Flames’ first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft can now focus on training camp and helping get his team over the hump and into the playoffs this season.
After speaking with both Zary and Flames GM Craig Conroy, here’s what fans need to know about the deal:
WHAT CAUSED THE DELAY?
While there was never any real anxiety about an agreement being reached before the start of training camp, that doesn’t mean that negotiations dragging into the start of September was how the Flames or Zary would have liked this to go.
These deals take time, though.
“It’s definitely part of the business,” Zary explained. “Obviously, like anyone, I would have liked to get it done earlier in the summer. It made for a frustrating and anxiety-filled summer, but just knowing that it’s done now is like a breath of fresh air and a weight off my shoulders.”
What made the negotiations challenging was the way Zary’s 2024-25 season went. On the one hand, he was among the team’s best forwards in December and early-January. On the other, he suffered two knee injuries that limited him to 13 goals and 14 assists in 54 games.
“When you’re negotiating and it’s projections, it’s ‘OK, if he played the whole season what would he get?’ and I see where they’re coming from on their side,” Conroy explained. “From our side it’s ‘OK, he had 27 points.’ He had a couple injuries and we really like Connor and we wanted to be fair and come to an agreement that was good for both sides.”
2. READY TO MOVE ON
Neither of the knee injuries that hampered Zary’s 2024-25 season were his fault. There were no fitness issues and there weren’t any recurring problems arising from a previous injury.
He took a knee-on-knee hit from the Anaheim Ducks’ Drew Helleson and then was fallen on awkwardly by the Dallas Stars’ Mikko Rantanen later in the year.
The injuries aren’t expected to cause long-term issues, but it made for a frustrating season for a young player who appeared to be coming into his own as an NHLer before he got hurt.
“I thought it was playing the best hockey I had at the NHL level and then it happens and all of a sudden my season wasn’t over, but it was kind of over,” Zary said. “It sucks and was really frustrating, but having this summer and this contract done kind of allows me to get past that and not think about that anymore. It’s a fresh start.”
That’s true from the Flames’ perspective, too. His limited availability last season obviously impacted the team’s negotiating stance, but they’re still extremely high on his potential.
“Unfortunately, last year he had a couple injuries and one was a real fluke where Rantanen just kind of fell on him, but that’s part of it,” Conroy said. “I get where they feel like if we took that out … that’s where negotiations went back-and-forth, and what was fair? You want to make sure we feel it’s good for us and they feel it’s good for them.”
Calgary Flames Connor Zary speaks to media at the Saddledome as the players prepare for the off season in Calgary on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Jim Wells/Postmedia
3. PROVE IT
Three years gives Zary lots of time to show exactly who he is as an NHL player.
Since getting called up early in the 2023-24 season, he’s firmly established himself as an NHL player. He’s shown flashes of being a genuine night-to-night offensive threat and can do things with the puck on his stick that few of his teammates can match.
If there’s another level to his game, the Flames will have a very good player on their hands and may be looking to get his next extension done well before this contract is up.
“It’s really to give him those two years and hopefully in two years we’re back at the table,” Conroy explained when asked about the length of the deal. “You don’t know how it’s going to go with injuries, with where in the lineup (he winds up) but it gives us some time and him some time to establish himself with ‘This is who I am as an NHL player.’
“I feel like we’re going to know exactly where Connor is in two more years.”
It’s an opportunity Zary fully understands.
“I think we agreed on three years pretty early,” Zary said. “It gives me a chance to prove myself. I know how good a player I can be and what I can bring to the team. Obviously, it was difficult with how last year kind of ended with the injuries.
“Now, with these three years and starting right now and a couple weeks from now in training camp, it’s not even everyone, it’s showing myself who i am as a player and what I can do and how good I can be and helping this team win games. I know how close we were last year.”
4. CENTRE?
There’s been a lot of talk about whether the Flames should give Zary a look at centre or whether he should stay on the wing.
Head coach Ryan Huska will obviously have a major say in that decision, but when Conroy was asked, it didn’t sound like a move the Flames are on the verge of making.
“It’s a tough one because I do know he can play centre, but with (Nazem) Kadri, with (Morgan Frost and Mikael Backlund), I just think wing is probably where he’s going to be,” Conroy said. “I want him to take faceoffs from Day 1. He can play centre, he really can, and for Ryan to have that versatility of ‘OK, I need him to play centre now’ it starts with faceoffs.
“We need him to be closer to 50% than 35% on faceoffs, it’s such an important thing.”
As you’d expect, Zary reiterated that he’s comfortable playing in the middle or on the wing.
“Honestly, I’m confident in my abilities to do what I need to do whether it’s wing or centre,” Zary said. “It doesn’t matter what the position is, it’s all about me taking my opportunities and running with them and proving what I am and who I am and making a positive impact on the game every single night, no matter where I’m playing.”
5. STEPPING UP
If the Flames are going make the playoffs this year, they’re going to need their young players to take a step forward.
That’s been reiterated again and again. Young guys like Zary need to establish themselves as guys who contribute every night.
“As a competitor and as an athlete, that’s what you strive to be, someone who can be leaned on,” Zary said. “That’s definitely on us younger guys to step up, everyone knows our veterans and how good they can be.
“It’s up to guys like me and (Matt Coronato, Kevin Bahl, Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee) to take that next step and make an impact every single night. Internally, that turns our team into an even better team than we were last year.”