2023-24 season preview: Cal Petersen

Cal Petersen had a very rough year in the NHL. During his 10 games with the Los Angeles Kings, he was simply not good enough, especially for a team that had serious playoff aspirations and a need for consistent goaltending. Petersen simply couldn\'t provide that, and was reduced to becoming a salary dump in the Ivan Provorov deal.

The former 5th round pick of the Sabres was part of the trio of players the Flyers received for sending Provorov to Columbus. L.A. saw fit to package a group of relatively valuable assets, just to off-load his 5 million dollar per year contract.

2022-23 Rundown

Games Played Save Percentage (SP%) Goals Against Average (GAA) Wins Losses High Danger Scoring Chance SV% Minutes 10 (w/ LAK) .868% 3.75 5 3 .727% 543 40 (w/ ONT) .904% 2.88 16 20 - 2396 Stats via. Hockey Reference/Quant Hockey

What did we see from Petersen last season?

A mixed bag would be a more than generous description of Petersen\'s 2022-23 campaign. The stats speak for themselves at a certain point, and they aren\'t lying when they say that Petersen was simply not good enough at the NHL level.

Among all NHL goalies to have featured in 10 or more games, Petersen ranked the 8th worst in GAA and had the worst SV% in the entire league. He was sent down early on in the year, and played a healthy 40 games with the Kings\' AHL affiliate, Ontario Reign. In the AHL, Petersen fared predictably better against the lesser competition, but still left a fair bit to be desired with his performances.

His .904 SV% and 2.88 GAA were passable, but Phoenix Copley was putting up similar numbers at the NHL level. That combined with the late-season acquisition of Joonas Korpisalo sealed Petersen\'s fate, and made him expendable even after the departure of Jonathan Quick.

What role do we expect Petersen to play this season?

Petersen will have another tough road to NHL minutes with the Flyers, with Carter Hart cemented as the starter, and Samuel Ersson proving last season that he can serve as a more than capable NHL level-backup. It would be hard to imagine a scenario where Petersen doesn\'t start the year in the AHL with Felix Sandstrom, but if there is a stumble or step back from Ersson at any point in the year, Petersen should get the call.

But in all reality, Petersen looks like he should be serving as organizational depth unless he can either impress in training camp, or take advantage of an injury to one of the other goalies in the system. Petersen\' large contract will make it very unlikely that anyone will claim him off waivers, so the Flyers should be able to shuttle him back and forth between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley without much issue.

What would make a successful season for Petersen?

A successful season for Petersen would simply be re-establishing himself as an option for an NHL team. Teams are always looking for options between the pipes, but at the moment, Petersen just simply hasn\'t shown enough since he broke out onto the scene in brief stints during 2018 and 2019 to really warrant an extended look at the NHL level.

Having a quality, consistent season in the AHL, while making the most of whatever opportunities he gets in a Flyers sweater is about all Petersen can do. Unless he is dealt for another bloated contract at some point throughout the season, he is not going to get a chance to find a landing spot with a bit more opportunity. The absolute best case scenario for Petersen is he finds a way to become the backup, but a good year as an AHL starter would also do a lot to help rehabilitate a career that once looked pretty promising.

Talking Points