On Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary left the game and did not return with an apparent knee injury. During the second period, Zary received a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks defenceman Drew Helleson. Zary was rushing up ice and looked to make an inside-out move to get around Helleson. In an effort to prevent Zary from a great scoring chance, Helleson extended his knee and made contact. Zary immediately dropped his gloves and grabbed his leg in pain. He would need to be helped off the ice by teammates and trainers. Meanwhile Helleson received a five-minute major and game misconduct. The Connor Zary injury could loom large.
The injury looked very bad and many expected this to be a long-term injury. However following imaging it insider Frank Seravalli reported that the Flames have gotten some good news. It appears the injury may not be as serious as originally thought, but Zary will still likely miss time.
Update: Bit of good news on #Flames forward Connor Zary as sources say initial imaging on Thursday indicated no damage to ACL or MCL in his left knee.
Still assessing injury and more medical opinion(s) required to determine exact timeline, but a couple major bullets dodged.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 10, 2025
Connor Zary Having Strong Season Before Injury
Connor Zary was having a strong sophomore season for Calgary before the injury. Heading into the game, Zary was third on the team in scoring with 22 points. More importantly to his point totals, Zary had taken on a larger role this season. Zary moved to the centre ice position early this season. He showed during the last two months he can play centre ice at the NHL level. He continued to be a line driver, creating offensive chances from the middle. His play was a major boost for Calgary who have struggled to find a top-nine centre outside of veterans Nazem Kadri and Mickeal Backlund. Zary was becoming a very important forward for Calgary this season prior to this injury.
Young Forward Will Be Missed
As mentioned above Calgary doesn’t have a lot of options at centre to fill in for Zary. To start the season the Flames tried Martin Pospisil at centre, but he struggled to be impactful. Last year, Yegor Sharangovich played in the middle for some of the year, but was more effective, especially offensively from the wing. Without any true top-nine centres on the roster, the Flames will likely move one of either Pospisil or Sharangovich to the middle although not ideal. This could also reignite the Flames search for a centre. There had been rumours earlier this season of the Flames looking to add a centreman, although those rumours have quieted down.
In addition to the position Zary plays, he’s also one of Calgary’s better offensive players. The Flames are currently just 29th in the league in goals for. They’ve been one of the worst-scoring teams all season, rarely scoring more than three goals in a single game. Without Zary, their offence is likely to struggle even more. Depending on the length of time missed, this injury could end up being a major factor for Calgary to eventually miss the playoffs.
Expected Roster Moves
The Flames most straight foward move would be for Walker Duehr to draw into the lineup. Before being scratched for the last two games Duehr was playing his best hockey of the season and will try and take advantage of this opportunity. It’s likely we’ll see Andrei Kuzmenko given another opportunity in the Flame top nine with this injury.
Calgary will also need to call up a forward while Zary is away. The most exciting option for a call up would be Rory Kerins who is a natural centreman and leads the Wranglers in scoring with 21 goals on the years. Calgary could however chose to go with more familiar and veteran options like Dryden Hunt or Adam Klapka.
The Flames’ loss of Zary will be massive, and they will need multiple players to step up in his absence.
Main photo: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
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