Oliver Kylington, Derek Ryan and Zac Rinaldo clear waivers

Good news, everyone!

The three players the Calgary Flames placed on the waiver wire on Monday – defenseman Oliver Kylington and forwards Derek Ryan and Zac Rinaldo – have cleared waivers.

All three players can now be sent to (a) the taxi squad or (b) the AHL camp freely.

The trio is now exempt from waivers until (a) they play in 10 NHL games or (b) they’re on the NHL roster for 30 days cumulatively. That means someone like Ryan, for instance, can play as a regular NHL player and be exempt from waivers until playing in Calgary’s 10th game on Feb. 4, which would allow the Flames to have him on the taxi squad for cap purposes for 14 of the first 24 days of the season (and save $130,000 in cap space).

As my colleague Wes Gilbertson of Postmedia noted in a piece on Monday, Ryan’s on a one-way deal and gets his NHL salary regardless of if he’s on the NHL roster or the taxi squad, so this type of move is an accounting quirk that allows everybody to get what they need.

Rinaldo and Kylington are on two-way deals and get their AHL salaries while on the taxi squad.

The Flames have to file a cap compliant NHL roster by 3:00 p.m. MT on Tuesday afternoon. They open their 2020-21 regular season schedule on Thursday in Winnipeg.