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

Dominance

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I really think this kid is gonna be the steal of the 2020 draft
Any other year and he’d be a top-10 lock pushing top-5.

Rocking 53 points (25 goals) in 37 games (1.43 P/G) and absolutely does it all as the focal point in Kamloops. He’s a good skater, defensively responsible, smart, good size, and has a mean streak to go along with it.

To put it in perspective, Dach went 3rd with 1.18 P/G, Cozens 7th with 1.24 P/G, Patrick 2nd with 1.39 P/G, Glass 6th with 1.36 P/G, Rasmussen 9th with 1.10 P/G, Reinhart 2nd with 1.75 P/G on a stacked team, Draisaitl 3rd with 1.64 P/G, Virtanen 6th with 1.00 P/G, RNH 1st with 1.53 P/G, Johansen 4th with 0.97 P/G, Connolly 6th with 1.18 P/G, in the last decade.

I’m still seeing rankings with him in the 20s :eek:
 
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danyhabsfan

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Any other year and he’d be a top-10 lock pushing top-5.

Rocking 53 points (25 goals) in 37 games (1.43 P/G) and absolutely does it all as the focal point in Kamloops. He’s a good skater, defensively responsible, smart, good size, and has a mean streak to go along with it.

To put it in perspective, Dach went 3rd with 1.18 P/G, Cozens 7th with 1.24 P/G, Patrick 2nd with 1.39 P/G, Glass 6th with 1.36 P/G, Rasmussen 9th with 1.10 P/G, Reinhart 2nd with 1.75 P/G on a stacked team, Draisaitl 3rd with 1.64 P/G, Virtanen 6th with 1.00 P/G, RNH 1st with 1.53 P/G, Johansen 4th with 0.97 P/G, Connolly 6th with 1.18 P/G, in the last decade.

I’m still seeing rankings with him in the 20s :eek:

Zary is also the oldest player from that list minus Patrick who had an injury plagued season his draft year.
 

93LEAFS

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Nov 7, 2009
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Any other year and he’d be a top-10 lock pushing top-5.

Rocking 53 points (25 goals) in 37 games (1.43 P/G) and absolutely does it all as the focal point in Kamloops. He’s a good skater, defensively responsible, smart, good size, and has a mean streak to go along with it.

To put it in perspective, Dach went 3rd with 1.18 P/G, Cozens 7th with 1.24 P/G, Patrick 2nd with 1.39 P/G, Glass 6th with 1.36 P/G, Rasmussen 9th with 1.10 P/G, Reinhart 2nd with 1.75 P/G on a stacked team, Draisaitl 3rd with 1.64 P/G, Virtanen 6th with 1.00 P/G, RNH 1st with 1.53 P/G, Johansen 4th with 0.97 P/G, Connolly 6th with 1.18 P/G, in the last decade.

I’m still seeing rankings with him in the 20s :eek:
I'm familiar with Zary, but you are grouping him with a bunch of early birthdays. Zary is among the oldest in this draft class (September 23rd B-day). The only two late birthdays you've listed in Reinhart and Draisaitl. When you adjust for age, guys like Glass had better seasons (and he went 6 in a weak year). I'd also add, a player like Dach and to a lesser extent Glass are getting drafted high more on projection due to their skill-set than there respective production. Dach is a 6'4 center, with unreal vision and the ability to take over the games, the issue with him has always been his drive. Glass was often compared to a guy like Scheifele and RyJo, in the hopes that while raw, he will fill out his lanky frame, leading to more explosiveness. Build and skill-set wise Zary is much closer to Sam Reinhart, who had notably better production. Everyone on that list outside of Virtanen and Reinhart were big projectable centers, which tend to get a boost at the top of the draft, as they are arguably the most desired type of player in the draft.
 
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AKL

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I'm not there at the meetings when they're deciding who to take, but I don't really think being born 6-8 months before another guy is something NHL teams really care about. Maybe they look at it if they're trying to break a tie and are having a hard time, but it seems to me they would probably look at some other things first.
 
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93LEAFS

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I'm not there at the meetings when they're deciding who to take, but I don't really think being born 6-8 months before another guy is something NHL teams really care about. Maybe they look at it if they're trying to break a tie and are having a hard time, but it seems to me they would probably look at some other things first.
They absolutely weigh, early-birthdays vs late-birthdays in the CHL, because age is a barrier to entry to the league. 2001's are in their 3rd CHL year, whereas 2002's are in their 2nd year. That generally leads to 3rd year players getting more prominent roles, and further ahead developmentally. Obviously, they examine and weight players' skills, but they carefully pay attention to the stuff I mentioned.
 

Dominance

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I'm familiar with Zary, but you are grouping him with a bunch of early birthdays. Zary is among the oldest in this draft class (September 23rd B-day). The only two late birthdays you've listed in Reinhart and Draisaitl. When you adjust for age, guys like Glass had better seasons (and he went 6 in a weak year). I'd also add, a player like Dach and to a lesser extent Glass are getting drafted high more on projection due to their skill-set than there respective production. Dach is a 6'4 center, with unreal vision and the ability to take over the games, the issue with him has always been his drive. Glass was often compared to a guy like Scheifele and RyJo, in the hopes that while raw, he will fill out his lanky frame, leading to more explosiveness. Build and skill-set wise he's much closer to Sam Reinhart, who had notably better production. Everyone on that list outside of Virtanen and Reinhart were big projectable centers, which tend to get a boost at the top of the draft, as they are arguably the most desire type of player in the draft.
Zary plays like a powerful, projectable centre, though. The age comment is a valid point of discussion around the numbers, but most of the players I listed had a stronger team around them, so I’d say it generally evens out. I probably have shiny-new-toy syndrome to some extent, but he looks better this year than most of those guys did to me in their draft years.

Also, I’m not making a case for him to go at 1 or 2, or even at 5. Top-10, though? For sure. I’ve seen mock drafts with him falling to playoff teams. I really do think that is right around as crazy as if Turcotte or Dach had fallen a dozen spots.

Hopefully, four or five years from now I can come back and quote this and claim my vindication. Cheers.
 

93LEAFS

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Zary plays like a powerful, projectable centre, though. The age comment is a valid point of discussion around the numbers, but most of the players I listed had a stronger team around them, so I’d say it generally evens out. I probably have shiny-new-toy syndrome to some extent, but he looks better this year than most of those guys did to me in their draft years.

Also, I’m not making a case for him to go at 1 or 2, or even at 5. Top-10, though? For sure. I’ve seen mock drafts with him falling to playoff teams. I really do think that is right around as crazy as if Turcotte or Dach had fallen a dozen spots.

Hopefully, four or five years from now I can come back and quote this and claim my vindication. Cheers.
I think he's in the discussion in the top 10, and will probably go in the lottery. But, he's 6'0 180 or so. Most of those WHL centers are 6'2+. It's also really hard for guys with his build to become effective power centers in the NHL. For every Mike Richards, there are a couple Sam Bennett's or Gilbert Brule's. Most tend to calm down there game at a higher level due to size discrepancy. Dach was arguably the most talented player in last years draft, the issue with him was whether you believed it would ever all click for him. I still have no idea the answer to that question. Might be more fair to compare Zary to someone like Krebs (who had horrific support), but we don't know where he would have been drafted if he didn't tear his Achilles training for the draft.
 

S E P H

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Any other year and he’d be a top-10 lock pushing top-5.

Rocking 53 points (25 goals) in 37 games (1.43 P/G) and absolutely does it all as the focal point in Kamloops. He’s a good skater, defensively responsible, smart, good size, and has a mean streak to go along with it.

To put it in perspective, Dach went 3rd with 1.18 P/G, Cozens 7th with 1.24 P/G, Patrick 2nd with 1.39 P/G, Glass 6th with 1.36 P/G, Rasmussen 9th with 1.10 P/G, Reinhart 2nd with 1.75 P/G on a stacked team, Draisaitl 3rd with 1.64 P/G, Virtanen 6th with 1.00 P/G, RNH 1st with 1.53 P/G, Johansen 4th with 0.97 P/G, Connolly 6th with 1.18 P/G, in the last decade.

I’m still seeing rankings with him in the 20s :eek:
I made the suggestion that he's better than Dach for me and still keep to that opinion. I should say that Dach is high potential, but I think Zary projects better. Now with that said, we gotta look at their individual draft classes and can't really compare them. 2016 will be a solid draft in the end, but the top 10 was quite lacking while the 1st round was overall deep with a lot of players close together. 2020 is almost the opposite, it has an extremely strong top 10 and then it tapers off at some segments in the 1st round. Zary going 9th-11th in 2020 is equivalent of him going 4th or so in 2019 IMHO.

But, he's 6'0 180 or so. Most of those WHL centers
:rolleyes:
 

ConnorMcMullet

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Jun 10, 2017
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I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone by the 10th pick, especially with such a winger-heavy top-10.

Although I will still hold out hope that he drops to our pick. :)
 
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Dominance

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I made the suggestion that he's better than Dach for me and still keep to that opinion. I should say that Dach is high potential, but I think Zary projects better. Now with that said, we gotta look at their individual draft classes and can't really compare them. 2016 will be a solid draft in the end, but the top 10 was quite lacking while the 1st round was overall deep with a lot of players close together. 2020 is almost the opposite, it has an extremely strong top 10 and then it tapers off at some segments in the 1st round. Zary going 9th-11th in 2020 is equivalent of him going 4th or so in 2019 IMHO.


:rolleyes:
Agree completely.
I wouldn't be surprised if he's gone by the 10th pick, especially with such a winger-heavy top-10.

Although I will still hold out hope that he drops to our pick. :)
This is actually a really interesting point. After Byfield, who is the next definite centre prospect? It looks like it’s just between Lundell and Zary, given Lapierre’s injuries.
 

ConnorMcMullet

#12 Colby Cave
Jun 10, 2017
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Agree completely.

This is actually a really interesting point. After Byfield, who is the next definite centre prospect? It looks like it’s just between Lundell and Zary, given Lapierre’s injuries.
Exactly. The last draft with poor center depth, 2018, had Kotkaniemi and Hayton jump into the top-5. Despite this draft being deep, I don't see Zary slipping out of the top-15 due to the lack of centers.

A lot could change between now and June though.
 

bert

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I'm very high on Rossi and currently have him ranked in my top-5, but it's quite likely he's a winger in the NHL. For a guy his size, you usually need elite skating to cut it as a center.
Nope he is a center and will be at the NHL level too. He is very strong on the puck and great in the dot, his elite skill is his vision and play making he wont be a winger in the NHL he will be far less effective.
 
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DemidovSaveUs

Danila Yurov Fan Club Executive Assistant
May 2, 2018
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Typically player’s producing at Zary’s pace in their draft year go pretty high. I know it’s a deep draft and all, but he is an extremely good prospect who is probably a year away from the NHL (after this one of course). Any team that gets him in the teens will have an absolute steal. I just hope it’s not Nashville or Chicago.
 
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