The Calgary Flames aren’t done looking for trades after acquiring Simon Nemec from the New Jersey Devils yesterday afternoon. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Flames are actively shopping Connor Zary on the trade market and looking for a second-round pick in return.
At face value, that doesn’t seem like an outrageous price for Zary, who is signed through the 2027-28 season at a $3.775MM salary. He has not blossomed into the top-six scorer Calgary believed he would become when they selected him with the 24th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, but he has provided quality value as a tertiary producer.
Throughout the past three years with the Flames, Zary has scored 39 goals and 86 points in 191 games, averaging 15:09 of ice time per game. Although he has succumbed to the injury bug on occasion, that output is good for 17 goals and 37 points on an 82-game average. Of potential trade partners, the Devils and Los Angeles Kings each have two selections in the second round of the 2026 NHL Draft, and could each use additional scoring in their forward corps.
Additional trade rumors:
- It wouldn’t be a typical offseason if Rasmus Ristolainen didn’t find himself in trade rumors. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Philadelphia Flyers are again feeling out the market for Ristolainen, with the Ottawa Senators being one of the interested suitors. Ristolainen, 31, has one year and $5.1MM remaining on his contract, without trade protection. The right-handed blue liner is coming off another injury-riddled season in which he registered one goal and 14 points in 44 games with a +10 rating, averaging 21:23 of ice time per game.
- Back to Calgary, although the Flames would like to make more trades, they are having a difficult time with one of their more obvious trade candidates. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that as much as the Flames would like to move Blake Coleman, the 10 teams on his trade list don’t have the cap space to acquire him at the moment, leading to little traction. Still, that will likely change in the coming days, as Coleman is only owed a $4.9MM salary through the 2026-27 season. The two-time Stanley Cup champion scored 20 goals and 35 points in 69 games with Calgary this past season.
- Lastly, with four picks in the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, the St. Louis Blues are more than open to using their draft capital to move up in the draft. General Manager Doug Armstrong told the media he would welcome an opportunity to move into the top four, saying, “If they want to engage St. Louis at picks No. 1, 2, 3 or 4… they know what we have and I would welcome the call.”
