The best case scenario is unquestionably that the injury Connor Zary suffered on Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks isn’t as serious as it looked.
The knee-on-knee hit the Calgary Flames centre received from Drew Helleson was ugly, and replays made it hard not to fear the worst.
On Wednesday morning, insider Frank Seravalli reported that the team was waiting for inflammation in Zary’s knee to subside before imaging is done on Thursday to determine the extent of the damage, although they have ruled out a fracture.
Until the injury gets diagnosed, the Flames and their fans will hope and pray for good news.
If Zary faces an extended period on the sidelines, though, it creates a hole in the Flames lineup and they have few obvious candidates to fill it.
Shifting Yegor Sharangovich into the middle is one option. He’s played there with varying success in the past.
The other, and maybe the best option for the Flames, is giving Rory Kerins a call-up.
The 22-year-old has been having a great season with the Calgary Wranglers and earned an AHL All-Star nod on Wednesday afternoon.
Only a few months removed from getting zero pre-season minutes with the Flames, it would be a remarkable story if Kerins is called up for this first taste of NHL action.
“I feel like I’ve put myself in a good spot but at the same time I’m just worried about putting the work in down here and when the time comes, I know I’ll be ready,” Kerins said Wednesday after a Wranglers practice at WinSport. “There’s a lot of good players here, so we’ll see what happens.”
The fact that Kerins is even in the conversation for an NHL call-up would have been a big surprise to most people who follow the Flames closely even a few months ago.
A sixth-round pick, 174th overall, in the 2020 NHL Draft, Kerins spent most of the 2022-23 season with the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush before emerging as a full-time member of the Wranglers last season, when he recorded 16 goals and 16 assists.
This year, though, he’s elevated his game in a major way. He’s leading the AHL with 21 goals, and is second in points, with 34.
Even before Zary went down on Tuesday night, there was chatter about whether he might make a cameo with the Flames this season.
“I think he always had a belief in himself and his abilities and I think he’s a guy that by having that belief has always put his nose down to the grindstone and just grinded away and any opportunity he had he was wanting to prove people wrong,” said Wranglers general manager and Flames assistant GM Brad Pascall. “The thing that’s driven him is his own self-belief. With that, his success comes through opportunity and he’s obviously had a good opportunity that’s been presented but kudos to him, he’s jumped all over it and really attacked it.
“The last couple years, he’s had ups-and-downs and has played in the ECHL and the American League and he’s had some really good stretches and others that (were not). Now, he’s a relied upon person who anyone can look at and say ‘hey, he’s in the conversation’ whereas in the past, maybe not.”
The leap between the AHL and the NHL is a big one, and nobody would be expecting Kerins to maintain his point-a-game pace if he does get a call-up from the Flames.
But for a team that is going to need offence if Zary is out — he is third on the team in points, with 22 — Kerins’ particular skill set could be useful. He plays centre, he can score and is an offensive driver.
There’s still hope that Zary’s injury might not be as bad as it looked, but if the Flames do get bad news, Kerins might just get the call every young player dreams of.
“I’ve got belief in myself but that’s not where my mind is right now if I’m completely honest, it’s just keep improving my game and it’ll all work out,” Kerins said.