Unclaimed.
Another killer is that Zadina is owed almost 3 million in 2024-25. Another bad contract by Yzerman.
Yup, he cleared. Surprised but not shocked.
Read a bit about the situation in the last day or so -- apparently his agent asked for (and got) too much money for him, then went to Yzerman and essentially demanded a trade, Yzerman apparently tried to move him and found no takers. Now, in the name of 'trying to give the kid an opportunity to play,' he gets waived / goes unclaimed at least partly because of that cap hit and the real dollars he's owed next year and the year after (about 4.6m in real dollars total across both years).
According to Wings fans, consensus is he's just not good enough to crack the roster (not a bottom 6 skillset) and most are ok to call him a bust and turn the page at this point. As a group, we like Fischer a LOT more than they like Zadina.
Humbling experience for Zadina for sure. Curious to see whether he's able to come back from this / put together any sort of meaningful NHL career