Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, the Calgary Flames have had an issue with their roster: not enough reliable, established centres.
Sure, they have veteran Nazem Kadri for offensive situations and the reliable Mikael Backlund in a shutdown role. Kevin Rooney was also available for fourth line duty. But that left a third spot that needed filling.
And it’s been a bit of a sore spot in the lineup over the first 17 games.
On Thursday at practice, for the first time this season head coach Ryan Huska used sophomore Connor Zary at centre (between Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich). Zary’s seeming swap to centre comes on the heels of the Flames using Sharangovich and Martin Pospisil up the middle at various times, with mixed results.
Martin Pospisil at centre
Pospisil played centre at the World Championships and the Olympic qualifiers for Slovakia. Between that and how the other lines were shaping up, the Flames opted to begin the season with Pospisil at centre. (Sharangovich was injured and Zary was playing on the wing.)
Pospisil played 11 of the first 17 games at centre. On one hand, he had five points while playing centre and had a plus-3 plus/minus (and the Flames went 6-3-2). On the other hand, he won just 39% of his face-offs and had a 36.3% expected goals for (xGF) rating. Woof. In six games on the wing he didn’t have any points, but his xGF was at 52.3% – much better.
Yegor Sharangovich at centre
Sharangovich missed the first seven games with a lower body injury that he suffered in the final pre-season game. When he returned, he played a pair of games on the wing before being placed at centre for five games. At centre, he had two goals, a minus-3 plus/minus and won 48.7% of his draws. Heck, he had a 56.2% xGF, too. The Flames went 2-2-1 with Sharangovich at centre.
Speaking to the media prior to Monday’s game with Los Angeles, Huska discussed what he’d seen from Pospisil and Sharangovich up the middle.
“I see two guys that are, you know, they’ve played centre in the past, but they’re learning as they go a little bit right now,” said Huska. “For Sharan, whether he’s on the wall or in the middle of the ice, it’s making sure he’s committed to being strong on the puck so it’s on his stick more often than not because I feel like when he has it, he controls the play. So he’s that important of a player for us. And Marty is the same thing. I go whether he’s in the middle or on the wall. Part of his identity is to be a physical player. So whether he’s in the middle of the ice or on the wall, that’s what we look for out of him is he uses his speed and he’s on the body.”
Connor Zary at centre
Zary has yet to play centre in the NHL this season. But last season, he played the final seven games up the middle. He had two goals and two assists, won 48.8% of his draws, and had a 58.4% xGF. The Flames went 4-3-0 with Zary at centre down the stretch.
On Thursday after practice (via Flames TV), Huska discussed the possibility of Zary playing at centre:
“The hard part with us juggling guys around like we have in the middle is trying to find the person that’s going to work there. And you lose a little bit of each player when we’re having to do that. So for Connor, we want him to control the play. A lot the same that he does as a winger. What comes with it is the added responsibility of, you know, a lot of times you look as your centreman is an extra defenceman on the ice. So he has the extra responsibility. So we don’t want him to get away from what he does well. We want him to continue to handle the puck, control the play. Now you had to add a little bit extra responsibility. So we want to make sure he’s capable of doing that.”
The Flames return to action on Friday night when they host Nashville. We’ll see if Zary ends up lining up at centre.
