- The winless Flames put Connor Zary and Brayden Pachal on waivers Monday
- Zary was a healthy scratch Saturday and has one assist in two games
- Read below for his contract, his numbers and what Calgary saves
The Calgary Flames have placed Connor Zary on waivers.
Monday morning, the 25-year-old forward hit the wire along with defenceman Brayden Pachal. The other 31 clubs have 24 hours to put in a claim on either player.
Pat Steinberg posted the news shortly after it came down:
Calgary is 0-3 to open the season and things have gone sideways in a hurry. The Flames have scored three goals in those three games and given up 16, losing 6-1 to Seattle, 4-1 in Vancouver and 6-1 again in Seattle on Sunday.
We pointed out that goal-scoring problem when the move broke:
Zary sat as a healthy scratch Saturday against the Canucks. He drew back in for Sunday’s blowout loss to the Kraken and played 13:56 with one shot. Through two games he has one assist.
He went 24th overall to Calgary in the 2020 NHL Draft, and for a while he looked like a real piece of the core. He put up 14 goals and 34 points in 63 games as a rookie in 2023-24.
Things haven’t gone the same way since. Zary had a pair of knee injuries in 2024-25 that held him to 54 games, then managed 12 goals and 25 points in 74 games last season. He has 39 goals and 87 points in 193 career NHL games.
His deal carries a $3.775 million cap hit this season and next, so any team that claims him takes on the full number. If he clears and goes to the AHL, the Flames can bury $1.225 million of it.
Pachal, 27, hasn’t dressed yet this season. The two moves open a pair of roster spots for GM Craig Conroy, who stuck with his plan over the summer and now has the AHL Calgary Wranglers to pull from.
A former first-rounder with a 34-point rookie year on his resume is the kind of player a team with cap room might take a flyer on. Zary’s status should be known by Tuesday.
