At one point in the not-too-distant past, 29-year-old Cal Petersen seemed destined to overthrow Kings’ franchise legend Jonathan Quick for the starting gig in LA, so much so that Rob Blake signed him to a three-year, $15 million extension in 2021. The deal kicked in during the 2022-23 campaign and his play fell off a cliff shortly thereafter.
He ended up back in the AHL with the Ontario Reign for much of the 2022-23 season and was shipped to the Philadelphia Flyers as part of a three-team deal during the summer of 2023. He didn’t fare much better with the Flyers, posting a 3.90 GAA and .864 SV% in five appearances.
His numbers with the Phantoms were pedestrian, posting a 2.71 goals against average and .902 save percentage (26th and 40th ranked respectively in the AHL based on 20 or more games played) recording 10 wins in 28 contests.
Now, to be fair to Petersen, he did go on a bit of a tear towards the end of the season. After he was shelled by the Pittsburgh Penguins allowing seven goals back on February 25 and demoted back to the AHL, he played 17 games recording a 2.07 GAA and .917 SV% with two shutouts. He’s also started all six of their playoff games with a 2.70 GAA, .887 SV% and one shutout.
The biggest hurdle when it comes to Petersen’s fate in 2024-25 is the fact that he still has one year left on his current deal at a $5 million cap hit.
Between Ivan Fedotov’s new contract coming in at a $3.27 million and Ersson’s new deal kicking in at $1.45, the main roster goaltending duo is not only accounted for, but locked up at a collective reasonable price. Fans have pointed towards their combined $4.725 million cap hit as a great win for the front office, but that doesn’t factor in the fact that it will cost them $3.8 million to bury Petersen in the AHL again next season. That’s $8.5 million in combined salary.
Alexei Kolosov is expected to be the starting goalie for the Phantoms in 2024-25, and as of now, Petersen would be the backup, but paying Petersen that kind of cash for, at best, a 50/50 split is not ideal.
Petersen’s buyout individually isn’t that bad. He’d cost $1 million against the cap in 2024-25 and $2 million in 2025-26. $1 million in dead cap is significantly better than his $3.8 in buried money.
If they were to buy out Petersen and sign a veteran AHLer on a near-league minimum deal, it would indeed be cheaper than burying Petersen straight up, but is the $1.5 million or so in saving next season worth it for the organization? If they’ve got no tricks up their sleeves when it comes to adding main roster talent and they don’t need every free dollar at their disposal, they may as well just ride out Petersen for one more year as the tandem partner for Alexei Kolosov rather than deal with the $2 million cap hit in 2025-26.
The Flyers need to be careful when it comes to buyouts. They’ve got a handful of guys who could fall in the “individually great” buyout category that when all thrown together make quite the financial mess for the next few years.
Cam Atkinson should take priority as he’s actively throwing a wrench in main roster plans, followed by undoing whatever mess they got themselves into with Ryan Johansen, then turn their attention to Petersen, who, while it makes financial sense to buy him out, feels more like a luxury at this point.
Though, if they somehow managed to trade Atkinson, and Johansen’s hangnail forces him to IR all season, then there could be an argument that buying out Petersen is a path that can be explored as the team’s only candidate for that fate.
So do the Flyers buy out Cal Petersen? It’s an option that definitely needs to be considered, but one that feels less and less likely as the date to make the decision approaches. Considering that he played a big role for the Phantoms in the playoffs, the relationship between player and team seems to be relatively strong, and if the Flyers don’t address main roster holes, then there’s no need to penny pinch on guys like Petersen. So buckle up and say a quick prayer to whatever God you believe in that Ersson and Fedotov make it through the 2024-25 campaign uninjured, because Cal Petersen as the third stringer is likely here to stay.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Getty Images
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