The Flames and Connor Zary like each other, but have a disagreement on compensation: Friedman

It’s been a pretty quiet summer for the Calgary Flames, gang.

Yeah, general manager Craig Conroy has locked a few players up to new contracts – including Matt Coronato, Kevin Bahl, Morgan Frost and Martin Pospisil. But there’s one piece of lingering contractual business before the 2025-26 season can begin: restricted free agent Connor Zary.

A first-round selection by the Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft, Zary just completed his entry-level contract and needs a new deal. But so far, the Flames and Zary’s camp have remained at an impasse.

In the most recent edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, co-host Kyle Bukauskas asked Elliotte Friedman about the whole situation.

Bukauskas: Quickly, do you have a read on another RFA out there, and Connor Zary and the Flames, and what the sticking point may be there?

Friedman: I have just heard that the two sides just have been apart. So until that changes, again, I don’t think this is a situation where the Flames don’t like the player or the player doesn’t like the Flames. I’ve just As you’ve heard, it’s a disagreement on, hey, if the term is X, this is what we think the number should be. The good news is that starting to pick up. Business is starting to pick up.

The 23-year-old Zary has played four seasons of pro hockey, a benefit of being a late birthday and gaining a slide year from signing soon after being drafted. On one hand, Zary’s definitely progressed since going pro, and has shown promise playing both centre and the wing.

But while teammate Matt Coronato avoided injury in 2024-25 and was able to really showcase what he can bring to the Flames… Zary wasn’t quite so lucky. Zary began the season playing quite well, but a pair of scary incidents – a knee-on-knee collision with Anaheim’s Drew Helleson in January and another with Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen in March – kept him out of the lineup for big chunks of the season and really disrupted his momentum, with his offensive production ending up slightly behind 2023-24’s.

Hopefully the two sides can come to terms on a deal soon and Zary can have a full training camp before the regular season begins on Oct. 7.