The Flyers still have a center need hanging over their roster as they head toward the 2026-27 season, and if they’re going to make a move, the market doesn’t offer many clean answers. Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin sits at the top of the NHL’s center trade board, but Philadelphia is not on his trade list. After that, the pool gets thin fast.
That’s why Calgary Flames forward Connor Zary has emerged as a name worth circling. He’s young, he’s been mentioned in trade chatter before, and he could be the kind of swing worth taking if the price stays manageable.
Back in late June, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the Flames were trying to move Zary and were asking for a second-round pick in return. If that asking price still holds, the Flyers would at least have a realistic path to checking in.
Zary’s 2025-26 season was a step backward. He finished with 12 goals and 25 points in 74 games for Calgary.
But the bigger picture is still encouraging enough to keep him on the radar. He’s only 24, and his earlier seasons suggest there’s more offense in there than he showed last year.
In 2024-25, Zary put up 13 goals and 27 points in just 54 games. Before that, he set career highs as a rookie in 2023-24 with 14 goals, 20 assists and 34 points in 63 games.
That track record is why he still looks like a player who could settle in as a solid top-nine forward, with the upside to become more. For a Flyers team that needs help down the middle, that makes him an obvious fit to consider.
At the very least, Zary’s scoring would have a chance to rebound in Philadelphia. Surrounded by more support than he’s had in Calgary, he could give the Flyers a useful boost now and maybe grow into something bigger later.
In Other News...
Flyers 2020 Draft Class Says Plenty About How That Era Went
The 2020 NHL Draft was supposed to be a meaningful pivot point for the Flyers, a chance to restock the pipeline and give the organization a cleaner future. Instead, looking back at that class now says a lot about how uneven that era turned out to be. Philadelphia made five selections, and while Tyson Foerster has grown into a notable contributor at the NHL level, the rest of the group has mostly taken a more complicated path through pro hockey.
Emil Andrae did reach the NHL before eventually being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, while the other picks have spent their time largely in the AHL and ECHL, with some no longer in the Flyers organization at all. It is the kind of draft haul that reflects both the hope teams attach to that weekend and the long, often messy reality that follows, especially for a club still sorting through the legacy of those years. [Read more 🡒]
Flyers Still Have One Intriguing Young Center Trade Option
The Flyers still have work to do if they want to add more young center depth, and the search does not have to stop with free agency or the draft. Philadelphia can still poke around the trade market, where age and upside matter just as much as immediate help, and that keeps a few intriguing names in play for a club trying to build a deeper middle down the line.
One possible path runs through San Jose, where a promising young center has started to turn a strong AHL season into real attention around the league. For the Flyers, the appeal is obvious: a player with size, skill and room to grow could fit the kind of long-term roster puzzle they are trying to solve. The harder part is getting him out of an organization that has every reason to value what he brings, which is why this remains more of an idea than a completed move for now. [Read more 🡒]