C Connor Zary - Kamloops Blazers, WHL (2020, 24th, CGY)

[Pavel Buchnevich]

How did this guy drop into the 20's? Might be the steal of the first round along with Drysdale falling to 6.

 

[snipes]

I liked Zary predraft, he’s a talented player even though he’s going to the Flames. Probably should of went a few spots higher.

 

[super6646]

Any thoughts on this guy?

 

[lawrence]

How did this guy drop into the 20's? Might be the steal of the first round along with Drysdale falling to 6.

quite possibly have to do with actual upside. but I think it's a solid pick for Calgary for sure.

 

[StreetHawk]

quite possibly have to do with actual upside. but I think it's a solid pick for Calgary for sure.

Solid pick. Plays bigger than his size, which is both a good and bad thing. Bad in that he might not survive/get injured if he doesn't picks his spots and good cause he will battle for ice.

His upside is dependent on improving his skating. Supposedly has good edge work. Though his stride was mentioned as being unusual.

 

[pgfan66]

How did this guy drop into the 20's? Might be the steal of the first round along with Drysdale falling to 6.

I liked Zary predraft, he’s a talented player even though he’s going to the Flames. Probably should of went a few spots higher.

Came here to say Zary never should’ve been drafted as high as he was, then saw the posts above. He very clearly couldn’t keep up at the world juniors and I cannot begin to understand how he made the team over guys like Beckman or Jarvis.

Btw, this is not my WJC hot take after watching two games. The WHL is the league I watch the most. The WJC just made my reasoning awfully clear again.

 

[Tutu to]

Came here to say Zary never should’ve been drafted as high as he was, then saw the posts above. He very clearly couldn’t keep up at the world juniors and I cannot begin to understand how he made the team over guys like Beckman or Jarvis.

Btw, this is not my WJC hot take after watching two games. The WHL is the league I watch the most. The WJC just made my reasoning awfully clear again.

I don’t see him being a star player in the NHL but I thought he did an ok job for Canada throughout the tournament.

 

[Mickey Marner]

His voice cracking when he was yelling at Sandlak was the highlight of my night.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I thought he had a good tournament and based on their performances I would have had him playing over Quinn.
Zary to me was smart and reliable and his effort level was great. From what I saw , Quinn was given a bit of a pass

 

[madmike77]

His skating definitely needs work, but the effort and intensity look like they are there. He did fine given what his role was I thought. But he certainly didn’t stand out.

From a Flames prospect perspective, Pelletier looked far better. I was actually surprised how well he played when he didn’t have the puck. Then again, he’s also older than Zary.

 

[Qubax]

I think Zary looked a bit timid at times, but did what he could to err on the side of being good positionally tonot be a liability.

I think he needs to physically mature and have the game slow down for him ...once that happens he'll be more assertive.

...as such he wasn't as assertive in this tournament.

but you also don't want to be too assertive, turn over the puck and cost your country the game.

These kids all develop at different rates, and I think it's too early to judge this tournament as a measuring stick for his career.

I am still quite high on him, but I think it'll take 3-4 years of physical maturity etc., to get there.

Pelletier is a bit of a different type of prospect and much more physically mature.

I see Zary as a potential Horvat type but I think that's the absolute peak and he needs 4-5 years to resemble that in the pros.

I think Pelletier is a tempered Brad Marchand with not quite the explosive upside but still Top 6 upside.

 

[Flamesfan62]

Came here to say Zary never should’ve been drafted as high as he was, then saw the posts above. He very clearly couldn’t keep up at the world juniors and I cannot begin to understand how he made the team over guys like Beckman or Jarvis.

Btw, this is not my WJC hot take after watching two games. The WHL is the league I watch the most. The WJC just made my reasoning awfully clear again.

You obviously have no idea what you’re talking about. Explain how Quinn played much worse but was for some reason given a leash. How do you know how Beckman and Jarvis would’ve performed in the same role as Zary? You must have a crystal ball!

 

[Bounces R Way]

Thought he was decent. Made a lot of plays in the defensive zone especially. Wasn't very noticeable good or bad offensively. Skating will definitely have to improve before he gets to the show.

 

[Odie Cleghorn]

Thought he was decent. Made a lot of plays in the defensive zone especially. Wasn't very noticeable good or bad offensively. Skating will definitely have to improve before he gets to the show.

He made plays in the offensive zone but none really turned into scoring chances.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

Came here to say Zary never should’ve been drafted as high as he was, then saw the posts above. He very clearly couldn’t keep up at the world juniors and I cannot begin to understand how he made the team over guys like Beckman or Jarvis.

Btw, this is not my WJC hot take after watching two games. The WHL is the league I watch the most. The WJC just made my reasoning awfully clear again.

Scouts don't base a kids future on 1 World Juniors. They look at their body of work up until their draft day and what they project them to be.

 

[pgfan66]

Scouts don't base a kids future on 1 World Juniors. They look at their body of work up until their draft day.

Read the second part of my post again.

 

[bsu]

Curtis Lazar

 

[super6646]

Curtis Lazar

Zary had much better production in his draft year. Don’t rly see it tbh.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

I don’t get the alleged skating issues.

I saw that as his biggest strength? He was constantly winning foot races

 

[landy92mack29]

He played a lot better than his normal linemates and the few chances he got to play with the better players he generated plenty of chances. Should've had him with Krebs and Cozens the entire time

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Zary had much better production in his draft year. Don’t rly see it tbh.

Lazar is also a better skater.

 

[Dack]

Lazar is also a better skater.

They have almost nothing in common. Zary is much better in all offensive categories. Lazar was a much better skater and probably better defensively.

 

[Flameshomer]

I don’t get the alleged skating issues.

I saw that as his biggest strength? He was constantly winning foot races

He has good speed but he lacks explosiveness, edge work, and balance. He can work on these things though! It definitely needs work.

 

[FerklundCGY]

Came here to say Zary never should’ve been drafted as high as he was, then saw the posts above. He very clearly couldn’t keep up at the world juniors and I cannot begin to understand how he made the team over guys like Beckman or Jarvis.

Btw, this is not my WJC hot take after watching two games. The WHL is the league I watch the most. The WJC just made my reasoning awfully clear again.

Zary (24th overall) made the WJC team ahead of Foerster (23rd overall), Lapierre (22nd overall), Jarvis (13th overall) and played pretty well in his limited minutes. In fact, there wasn't a single forward drafted after him that made the team.

He has an awkward stride but that doesn't mean he can't keep up. He was pretty easily able to keep up with the play and produced scoring chances at a very good clip whenever he got the opportunity to play.

Of course he has his faults (awkward stride, poor balance, etc). So does every player. He was drafted 24th overall. But there's also a reason why he was consistently ranked well above where he was picked, sometimes even ranked in the early-mid teens. There's also a reason why he made the team over numerous other players drafter higher than him.

You don't draft players for who they are today, but for who they could become down the line, and on top of having very promising WHL numbers that compare very favourably to current NHL'ers (posted below), he's known for other aspects of his game. Based on where he was drafted, the Flames got excellent offensive value, but the other thing about Zary too is that not only is he looked at as a two-way force in Kamloops, he's also a leader (and likely their Captain this season), and known for giving it his all every shift and being more committed that most in terms of training to consistently improve. You could see the fire in his eyes and voice in the last couple minutes of the Gold Medal game when he screamed at the ref.

There's also a reason why Chris Snow was caught fist-bumping when the Flames drafted him, because that was their #1 target. There's also a reason why most Flames fans were so pumped to get him where they did.







I think Zary was, if anything, shafted for as low as he was drafted. But that's why we're all allowed to have our own opinions.

 

[funky]

Like Byfield he was used a lot in the defense of role. No it is good to to a players as they are in a normal situation this is still a completely different role. I thought he played well given the circumstances.

I also feel like the guys played timid, that might not be the best word, but it felt like they were out to not try and get a penalty. He was one of the guys I was happy to have picked for the team as he is usually An in your face type bulldog. It almost felt like The whole team held up, tried to take a poll check instead of the body, and didn’t play that true Canadian game which is his bread and butter.

Can’t base anything off this tournament as most kids sat in a hotel room for two weeks and saw very little ice since last February.

I do not believe he is a top line talent but I do believe he will be an effective second line talent or a very elite third line talent. And at the spot he was picked in the draft that is a big win