This just opened a very interesting door for the Avalanche...

A very interesting door just got opened for the Colorado Avalanche when surprisingly a former first round pick got placed on waivers by the Calgary Flames earlier today and it's opened up the opportunity to claim a solid middle six forward that many see as a everyday NHL-er except for the Calgary Flames who instead of trading him decided to put him on waivers and said have at them boys and today at Avalanche Digest we are going to be talking about Connor Zari and his fit with the avs and the possibility of them even getting him in the first place because in theory it's a free forward. Welcome in to Avalanche Digest everybody so happy to have you here if you're new here and you're not subscribed go ahead and hit that subscribe button if you love everything about your favorite team and if you love everything about the most fun team in hockey right now it's the Colorado Avalanche but let's get into what was said so Elliot Friedman tweeted earlier today short and sweet that Connor Zari is on waivers and it was really surprising considering former first rounder in the NHL draft by the Calgary Flames you would think they would at least try and trade him and that's what people were saying is that the Flames tried to move Zari in the summer the player wanted a fresh start too after not working well in the Flames system so it kind of seemed a bit of a mutual thing to part ways and I guess it just got to the point where the Flames were tired of holding on to him while waiting for a deal so they just threw him on waivers didn't care about the return at all and it seemed like he didn't want to play in the Calgary Flames system either I've heard other reports of him brushing up against the as well so it seemed to just be like you know what get out of here kid so let's actually talk about Connor Zari though so former 24th overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames six foot 179 pounds so a little bit undersized and altogether this was a guy that was trusted to be a quality middle six forward here you can see he was signed to almost four million dollars for some term as well because that contract is actually up in 2028 so it's got some term on it as well and it was a little surprising that he was even on waivers in the first place so this is a forward that if teams want to claim them they have to take on this salary let's remember that going forward now taking an actual look at this guy's stats here you can see a quality middle six forward here in his first season he had 34 points in 63 games 27 in 54 still kind of on that same pace and then unfortunately in 74 games just last season only put up 25 points so it was a guy who was doing well before but just unfortunately really couldn't stay healthy was missing at least 20 games a year and so far this season is off to at least a healthy start and has one assist through two games so already Connor Zari is looking to be a quality middle six option I mean if you look what teams have to say about him he's been an efficient two-way contributor but lack of foot speed and size mixed with the lack of progress as a producer has clearly soured the flames on him good motor though willing to play through contact and has nice hands and if we know anything about the Colorado Avalanche they love a player with a good motor obviously these stats and charts you don't love to see the arrow down either but at 25 years old there is room to believe that if he's not playing on one of the worst teams in the NHL year on year Connor Zari has room for improvement playing next to much better line mates and especially in his rookie season he was on par with some of the best rookies in the game so Connor Zari is a player that I think has plenty of potential left in him and you might be looking at that foot speed and say well that's not a fit for the Colorado Avalanche and my retort to that is I think Connor Zari is a more skilled version of Nick Waugh and I we love Nick Waugh here and because he has such good hockey IQ Nick Waugh fits in just fine in the Colorado Avalanche system there's no reason to believe that Connor Zari couldn't either especially because his foot speed isn't that slow so just seeing already that Zari has the potential to be even better than Nick Waugh is I like what this means for the Avalanche especially as a guy who plays center or wing now the question is of more just kind of getting into more of how he plays people see him as a legit asset and as a legit NHLer he should definitely be grabbed by multiple people and that's kind of where we get into the trouble number one for a guy like Connor Zari the issue is the way waivers work if you guys don't know is that when you have a player like this the waiver order is determined until November 1st by the reverse standings of last year so that goes worst team which was the Vancouver Canucks get the first crack at it and the best team which was the Avalanche get the last one so the Avalanche are 32 into potential teams that could claim them I guess 31 considering Calgary's just not going to claim them but so the odds of the Avs actually being able to find the waiver claim if it drops that far would mean that every other team in the league saw this and said nope I'm good and it makes the most sense for teams like Vancouver to take on a contract like this because it just makes so much sense to do I mean a quality middle six forward reclamation project if you could even call it a reclamation project like Zari is music to the ears of like the Leafs the Vancouver Canucks any no man's land slash tanking team that's like hey I'd love a free young middle six forward boom that's the claim for Connor Zari so already that's the only hold up I see for Zari is just I just don't know if he's going to be there for the Avalanche and on top of that unfortunately there's just no room on this stacked roster I mean we're already talking about okay when Zach LaRue arrives we're this roster is going to be full you're telling me that Zari now has to find space in this middle six there's just no room here and with Zari being a primary shooter what the Avalanche need the most is is more playmakers it's why they went out and got Schwartz is why they love TJ Hughes so much so I think Connor Zari would add some more redundancy back into this middle six where the Avs have previously been moving away from that even though Connor Zari is a decent passer as well he's more well known for his shot and explosiveness and that has been a little bit worrying considering with his injuries people have said that's gone down in the past so a bit of another pockmark to put right there on that but like I say I mean Zach LaRue is seemingly ready to play next game Logan O'Connor is getting incredibly close he could play next game as well or just wait to the second half of the back-to-back and that means that TJ Hughes is or Svetchkoff or one of these bottom tier guys it's not going to be Kelly it's not going to be Waugh probably just Svetchkoff and Hughes are going to be the odd man out when Logan O'Connor and LaRue both return one of those guys is going to be the 13 forward hey it could even be Zach LaRue so just getting Zari already makes a crowded forward core roster in the best way just more crowded and I that's just another hard path is do the Avalanche even want to somehow make room for this contract even though I don't even see an option for them making room for this amount of money that's also the other thing I just it's so hard I was trying the roster bait I was trying to get into the roster and say what are they going to have to do to move the money around I just don't see them making room for Zari I mean if the Avalanche wanted to trade for a player like this they could have in the offseason and they just said I don't even think and he was very clearly on the board for that considering Calgary was trying to trade him or Calgary as they say up north and the Avs just moved on it so as well they just kind of said you know what for that contract we just can't fit it so there also is the concern there too just with the Avs money space it just doesn't work unfortunately they would have to move out players that they actually like and with how the Avs offense has been humming so far it's just difficult to imagine them actually fitting Zari on their roster here and on top of the waiver wires and how that works and waiver claims I just don't see the opportunity being there for the Avs in the first place although I would love if the Avs management managed to finagle something if anyone can it's Joe Sakic but what are we thinking in the comments down below about Conor Zari almost called him Tristan for some reason do we like this player should the Avs even try and take a chance on him let me know in the comments down below but that is going to do it for this one thank you all so much for watching and go Avs eventually when they play again