Player Profile: Connor Zary

Photo by Allen Douglas

Basic Player Overview

2019/20 Team: Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
Position: Centre
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 180 lbs
Handedness: Left

Introduction

Connor Zary finished his third year in the WHL with a respectable 38 goals and 48 assists in 57 games. His 86 points on the season place him 5^th in the entire WHL and 2^nd out of draft-eligible players, trailing Seth Jarvis. His 38 goals also place him 5^th in the WHL and 2^nd among 2020 draft eligibles, once again, behind Jarvis. Zary did not lead his team in points. The Blazers’ 21-year-old captain, Zane Franklin, holds that honour with 91 points. Zary was able to utilize his strength and high hockey IQ to become a dominant force in his draft year. His effective 200ft game helped push his Kamloops team to first in their division and 5^th in the entire Western Hockey League before the season was cut short due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Physicality

Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 180lbs, Zary is a big body when playing against WHL competition. He uses his size to his advantage almost every time he has possession of the puck, often opting to use his body to shield the puck away from opposing defenders that are unable to push him off the puck. Zary is fairly consistent at finishing his checks, even though he isn’t one to throw massive hits often. He uses his size well on the backcheck and is able to bump players off the puck along the boards when the opportunity arises. When crashing the net for rebounds, he can box out defenders effectively, giving him chances for easy rebound goals.

Playmaking Ability

Zary is a player who can frequently make the smart, simple play. He loves to draw in defenders, then protect the puck with his body and slide the puck back to the open defenseman at the point. This becomes very effective when there is a loose puck along the boards: he can retrieve the puck and quickly slide it back to his d-man, who can then reset the play. Zary isn’t always making passes that result in high-quality scoring chances, but he utilizes his teammates well. He is most dangerous when he fakes like he is going to shoot, only to rip a no-look pass across to his teammate for a high-quality shooting opportunity that will catch the opposing team off guard. Zary rarely makes passes that result in turnovers, and most of his passes are hard and on the tape of his teammates’ stick.

Shot

Zary is not afraid to rip the puck on net, resulting in a team-high 257 shots on goal this season (5^th in the WHL), which averages to about 4.5 shots per game. His wrist shot has a good release, is accurate, but most notably, has a lot of power behind it. If the pass is behind him, he can corral the puck and throw it on the net before the opposing goaltender is able to react. Being a left-handed shooter, Zary loves to slide down, just past the right face-off dot, and take one-timers on the net. When going one-on-one with the goaltender, Zary isn’t afraid to take it forehand-backhand and sneak one into the net. He threatens teams with his heavy shot that other players are forced to respect, leaving him the opportunity to fake a shot and dish the puck to an open teammate when the opportunity arises.

Hockey IQ

Zary is a very smart hockey player, which is why his coaches trust him on the ice in all situations. He is very effective at killing penalties, as he can read the play well, and keep an active stick in passing lanes. He also isn’t afraid to attack the puck carrier and either knock his opponent off the puck or put him in a position to make a pressured pass. He doesn’t shy away from blocking shots from the point either. Offensively, he knows where his teammates are and uses his awareness to find them consistently for the smart play, but not always the most dangerous play. He loves to threaten opponents with his heavy shot that he uses frequently, only to make a hard pass to a teammate for a shooting opportunity that catches the goalie before he has a chance to get set.

Puck Skills

Zary doesn’t dazzle you with slick dekes as often as you would hope, given he has very good hands. He opts to protect the puck with his body instead of taking the defender head-on and trying to go through him. He has the moves to fake out the goaltender consistently in one on one situations and can make split decisions on defenders to maneuver around them. When trying to deke through players, he often doesn’t have the separation speed or agility to effectively get past the defender clean but can use his quick release to take a sneaky, hard wrist shot through the deke. While under pressure, Zary can control the puck well with his stick, as well as execute quick and accurate passes. He is a very hard player to steal the puck from.

Skating

This is where the red flags pop up when watching Connor Zary. His skating is going to need some work for him to become an effective player in the NHL one day. His first 2-3 step acceleration is the biggest area of concern when looking at his skating. He also lacks the agility to make the most of his good stickhandling. There are also times in which Zary stops moving his feet, preventing him from being in the opportune position in the offensive zone. His edgework is okay, and when he gets to top speed he doesn’t look out of place. The NHL is full of back and forth play, and Zary will need to improve this area of his game to keep up, especially as a center.

Advanced Stats

When we look to the advanced data brought to us by Mitch Brown’s Percentile Rank Tool, we can see that the data matches the eye test for the offensive side of Zary’s game. The quality of his shots is up in 96% of all CHL players, meaning he doesn’t take many shots that aren’t good scoring chances. The data on his passes shows that they may not all be leading to high danger scoring chances, but as mentioned earlier, Zary often makes the safe, smart pass. The graph shows that Zary is very good defensively, which was evident when killing penalties and playing in the defensive zone. He uses his hockey IQ to have his stick in the lane to break up passes and uses his frame to knock defenseman off the puck or pressure them to make mistakes. It is a little surprising and concerning to see the data on his entries and exits, particularly when looking at how his data lines up relative to the team average. We can’t expect this area of his game to be dominant, as he doesn’t have the two-step quickness and agility to be overly effective when trying to skate the puck himself, but he can make the smart pass to move the puck up the ice.

DY Environment

Zary spent the year playing a key role for Kamloops. He centred the first line, helped quarterback the first unit powerplay, and he was excellent at killing penalties. His face-off percentage was 50.2% according to whl.ca, but he appeared much more dominant than that near the end of the season. He earned himself 15 powerplay goals, and 23 powerplay assists, while also managing 3 shorthanded goals as well. Zary had no shortage of ice-time, often playing upwards of 23 minutes per game. His regular linemates were 21-year old Zane Franklin, and 20-year old Orrin Centazzo, providing Zary with some skill and experience, however, both are undrafted and undersized (5’9” and 5’8”, respectively).

Draft Rankings

#20 — Recruit Scouting
#15 — ISS Hockey
#25 — Elite Prospects
#18 — McKeen’s Hockey
#13 — Future Considerations
#15 — NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters)

Expected Round of Selection

Connor Zary is expected to be a first-round selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, likely in the 15-25 range.

NHL Comparable and Projection

I believe Zary projects to be a bottom-six centre, or possibly a winger at the NHL level, with potential to play in a team’s top-six if he can improve his skating. An NHL comparable for Zary could be Bo Horvat. Both are 6’0” left-handed centres that play well on both ends of the ice. Horvat also needed to improve his skating after his draft year to become an effective NHLer, however, becoming the high-end player that he is today was a product of drastic improvement in his skating ability, something few prospects are able to achieve.