On Monday, the Calgary Flames placed forward Connor Zary on waivers.

The move is fairly significant for a few reasons.

Zary was a first-round selection of the Flames in 2020, and he’s worked his way through the organization during the tenure of general manager Craig Conroy. Zary’s been a regular part of the Flames lineup since early in the 2023-24 season, and he’s in the second year of a three year deal, doled out by Conroy, with a $3.775 million cap hit.

But after three losses to open the 2026-27 season, two of them one-sided set-backs at the hands of the Seattle Kraken, the Flames have decided to make some changes. And Zary, who’s seen himself the subject of some criticism in recent years for his up-and-down play, is now on the waiver wire – either headed to a new team, or headed to the American Hockey League for the first time in three years.

Weirdly enough, Zary’s diminished play and role, followed by a waivers placement, mirrors what happened to two other prominent recent Flames first-round draft picks. In all three cases, a major injury (or two) played a major part in each player landing on the waiver wire.

A product of Finland, Valimaki played his junior hockey as an import with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans and was a first-round pick of the Flames in the 2017 NHL Draft.

Valimaki was a superb junior player and made the NHL roster out of camp in 2018-19 as a 20-year-old. His rookie season was derailed by a high ankle sprain that cost him roughly half his 20-year-old season. He recovered well, but then suffered a knee injury that required surgery during the 2019 off-season. (The Flames had bought out Michael Stone’s contract to open up a roster spot for Valimaki, then had to re-sign Stone after Valimaki’s injury – the only time in NHL history to date a team has been allowed to re-sign a player they had bought out.)

After losing a year of a half of development to significant injuries, Valimaki’s game was fairly incomplete. He became waiver eligible at the beginning of the 2022-23 season and the Flames placed him on waivers in early October 2022. He was claimed by the Arizona Coyotes.

A standout in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, Pelletier was a first-round selection by the Flames in the 2019 NHL Draft. He wasn’t physically huge, but he had smarts, strong skating, and the willingness to go to the hard areas of the ice. Those traits made him a standout for Canada’s national junior team, too.

He went pro in 2021-22 and worked his way up the Flames’ pro system, emerging as a point-per-game AHL player and soon earning call-ups to the NHL roster. It seemed like only a matter of time before Pelletier carved out a full-time NHL roster.

Then he suffered a a pair of shoulder injuries. He required surgery after a Sept. 2023 hit into the boards from Seattle Kraken prospect Marian Studenic.

After recovering from surgery he returned to the NHL later that season, then was injured again – thankfully less severely – on a hit from New York Rangers defender Jacob Trouba.

He was never quite as feisty, fast or fearless following those injuries. He was waived by the Flames at the start of the 2024-25 season, and was traded to Philadelphia later that season.

Now, onto Zary.

Zary was excellent in 2024-25, then suffered a pair of knee injuries.

On Jan. 7, 2025, he collided knee on knee with Anaheim’s Drew Helleson while cutting across the middle of the ice on a rush play.

On Mar. 27, 2025, he was awkwardly tangled up with Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen and fell backwards awkwardly, with his leg folding underneath him.

Neither injury required surgery thankfully, but Zary’s speed, skill and elusiveness seemed diminished after he returned, and he arguably hasn’t been quite the same on the ice since.

We’ll see what the future – and the waiver wire – holds for Zary in the coming days and weeks. Here’s hoping he can get his swagger back, wherever he ends up playing next.