Flames’ Zary among three NHL players placed on waivers Oct. 5

A big surprise with a rather notable player hitting the wire.

On Monday, the Calgary Flames placed forward Connor Zary and defenseman Brayden Pachal on waivers, making them available to the other 31 teams in the NHL. The New York Rangers also put blueliner Matthew Robertson on waivers.

If all three players clear waivers on Tuesday, they’ll become eligible to be sent down to their American Hockey League teams.

Zary is certainly a shocking name to be placed on waivers, and will be receiving interest from a few teams across the league. The 25-year-old has pretty much been a full-time member of the Flames for the past three seasons, and has seen a lot of time in the team’s top six over the past couple of years. He posted a career-high 34 points in his rookie season in 2023-24, and while his numbers have dipped over the past two years, as Calgary has stumbled down the Western Conference pecking order, Zary has remained one of the team’s more prominent players.

The Saskatoon native is coming off a 2025-26 campaign where he posted 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points in 74 games, finishing tied for seventh on the team in scoring with Jonathan Huberdeau. Through two games this year, Zary has posted an assist, as the Flames have stumbled out of the gate, losing to the Seattle Kraken (twice) and Vancouver Canucks, getting outscored 16-3 in the process.

Zary is in the second season of a three-year contract, which he signed in September 2025. The deal carries a cap hit of $3.775 million through the 2027-28 campaign. In 193 games in the NHL, the former first-round pick has posted 39 goals and 48 assists for 87 points.

If Zary were to clear waivers, he could join the Calgary Wranglers, the Flames’ primary affiliate, for the first time since the 2023-24 season.

Pachal made the Flames’ season-opening roster, but hadn’t seen any time with the big club thus far. He has spent the past two years with the Flames, but only appeared in 39 games in 2025-26, thanks to being a healthy scratch. The Estevan, Sask. native scored just one goal and seven points, posted a -1 plus/minus, and averaged a little under 14 minutes of ice time per game. The 27-year-old hasn’t been in the minors since the 2022-23 season, when he was part of the Vegas Golden Knights organization.

Pachal is in the final season of his two-year contract extension, which has an AAV of $1.187 million. In 177 NHL contests, he has notched six goals and 22 assists for 28 points.

Like Pachal, Robertson made the Rangers roster out of camp, but hasn’t seen any playing time. He appeared in 72 games for the Blueshirts as a rookie last year, posting six goals and 18 points, with a -1 rating and an average TOI of 17:24. He hasn’t been with the Rangers’ top farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, since 2024-25, when he scored a career-high 25 points in 60 games.

Robertson is in the final season of his two-year contract extension, with a cap hit of $850,000.

Only two players were placed on waivers on Sunday, as Boston Bruins forward Michael Eyssimont and San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Giles both cleared on Monday and can be assigned to their respective minor-league affiliates.