The Calgary Flames and Connor Zary are still trying to get a contract done.
They aren’t too far off in negotiations, but it sounds just far enough that a compromise hasn’t been reached yet.
The Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reports that they’re about $1 million off in annual value.
Calgary wants a three-year deal going up no higher than $3.5 million annually, per the report, a total value of $10.5 million.
Zary wants $4.5 million annually, which brings total value to $13.5 million.
As a former first-round pick, Zary is trying to bet on his potential here.
After an injury-plagued 2024-25 season, though, it might be hard to pull off that deal.
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The 23-year old center appeared in 54 games in 2024-25 and had 13 goals and 14 assists.
The year before, his rookie season, he had 14 goals and 20 assists in 63 games.
Zary doesn’t do much defensive work statistically, so he needs to be on the ice and contributing to goals to be worth his value.
AFP Analytics projects that Zary is worth three years and $3.42 million per season, right around the Flames’ offer.
Zary is a restricted free agent, but he wasn’t eligible for salary arbitration this offseason, so at this point, it’s sort of just waiting out a deal to come to fruition with Calgary.
He’s still a key part of the Flames’ future, but they want to make sure they get the money right here.
It could still be a little while until these sides come to the compromise that gets a signature on a contract.
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