Calgary Flames
Starter
Flames sign RFA forward Connor Zary to three-year contract ($3.775 million AAV)
Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/flames-sign-rfa-forward-connor-zary-to-three-year-contract
The Calgary Flames are closing in on a three-year contract with restricted free agent forward Connor Zary, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Friday afternoon.
Zary, 23, collected 13 goals and 27 points in 54 games with the Flames during the 2024-25 regular season. The Flames originally selected the 6′ centre/wing in the first round (No. 24 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft.
Friedman indicated that the new contract, which will take Zary into his final year of RFA status, will carry a cap hit of just under $3.8 million per season. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis later confirmed that the contract is worth $3.775 million a year.
A product of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Zary spent his junior career with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, with whom he spent parts of four seasons. After a nine-game stint immediately after being drafted, Zary turned pro with the AHL’s Stockton Heat on a full-time basis for the 2021-22 season, after which the team relocated and became the Calgary Wranglers.
After emerging as a top-tier offensive player at the AHL level in the 2022-23 season, Zary made his Flames debut early in the 2023-24 campaign and quickly made a name for himself as one of the team’s most exciting young talents, scoring 14 goals and 34 points in 63 games as a first-year NHLer.
Zary showed much of the same flash and dash in his sophomore season with the Flames but missed 28 games while recovering from two scary-looking knee-injuries, the latter of which prematurely ended his season.
Earlier this week, The Fourth Period insider David Pagnotta reported that the Flames and Zary were inching closer to the finish line on a three-year deal, which ultimately became reality on Friday. In 117 career games with the Flames, Zary has collected 27 goals and 61 points.
With Zary now re-upped, the Flames have completed most of their major offseason business, having already re-signed Matt Coronato, Morgan Frost, Martin Pospisil, Joel Hanley, and Justin Kirkland, among others, earlier in the summer. But Flames GM Craig Conroy still has plenty to do going forward, including extending Dustin Wolf and (in all likelihood) finding a new home for Rasmus Andersson.
This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi
This article is a presentation of Platinum Mitsubishi, family owned and operated by lifelong Calgarians. Home of the industry-leading 10-year, 160,000-kilometre powertrain warranty. Check out their showroom at 2720 Barlow Trail NE or online at www.mitsu.ca.
Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/flames-sign-rfa-forward-connor-zary-to-three-year-contract