Making Sense Of The Calgary Flames' Situation With Connor Zary

It's still early days in the NHL’s 2026-27 regular-season, but there's already some curious moves being made. Perhaps the most curious involves the Calgary Flames and center Connor Zary.

After the Flames lost their first three games by a combined score of 16-3, Calgary GM Craig Conroy put Zary on waivers with no team stepping up to claim him.

While the fact he cleared waivers has more to do with Zary's annual salary of $3.7 million than it does about Zary’s ability, it's was still a curious decision by the team.

We're not suggesting Zary is teeming with grade-A potential. At 25-years-old, he may have reached his competitive ceiling. But this is still a player who has produced 87 points in 193 regular-season games. And in two games before being sent down, Zary recorded an assist.

Again, not the second coming of Connor McDavid in the points department, but someone who could have something to offer a team seeking forward depth. 

It's a weird sequence of events to essentially give up on Zary at this point in the season, at this point in his contract, and at this point in the Flames' development. Zary is under contract for another full season after this, and the Flames are still in the early stages of their extensive rebuild. So what’s the rush getting Zary out the door? Make it make sense.

A report from Sportsnet's Eric Francis indicated Zary could possibly be traded by the Flames rather than keep him in the AHL all season now that he's cleared waivers. But what teams are likely to step up and make a pitch for Zary? It depends partly on how much of Zary's contract Conroy is willing to retain to make a trade fit under a team’s salary cap. 

If were talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs taking a flier on Zary, GM John Chayka has more than enough cap space to fully absorb his contract. But every dollar Chayka saves on Zary's contract is a dollar he can spend elsewhere, so he may decide to attach another draft pick if Calgary retains a good deal of his salary.

A team like the Seattle Kraken has been on the other side of these moves that wave the white flag on a player. Think of Morgan Geekie, who Seattle allowed to leave for nothing as a free agent and has since blossomed with the Boston Bruins. The Kraken could take a chance on Zary and see if he can develop into an important piece of their puzzle.

That's the risk the Flames are taking on here – a very real risk that feels like an unforced error. When a team has played less than five percent of its season and it’s already throwing players overboard, you have to be concerned that they’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Zary is an NHL-level talent, and his salary isn't so punitive as to keep him out of hockey's top league for the long haul. If Conroy is maximizing a return for a player who doesn't fit into the Calgary’s plans, that’s understandable. But there's an obvious chance saying goodbye to Zary could blow up in the Flames' face.

And if it does, parting ways with him this early in the season will be hard to justify.

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