As expected, Cal Petersen has cleared waivers after a dreadful start to the season. The Los Angeles Kings sent him to the minor leagues, while completing several other roster moves. Tobias Bjornfot, Pheonix Copley and Samuel Fagemo have been recalled, while Rasmus Kupari and Jordan Spence are joining Petersen with the Ontario Reign.
It has been a precipitous fall from grace for Petersen, who signed a $15M contract just over 14 months ago. That deal includes a $4M signing bonus next year and $11M total over the last two seasons, a price tag that many clubs would likely balk at if considering a claim. The fact is that he just hasn’t been good enough to justify that price tag, making it easy to understand why teams would pass over him on waivers.
If he can get his game back in order, there will be a path back to the NHL for Petersen. Copley doesn’t represent a huge upgrade, despite strong performances in the minor leagues. Through 31 NHL games, the 30-year-old has a .900 save percentage, and hasn’t played regularly at that level since 2018-19. While he can serve as a backup, for the time being, the Kings goaltending situation looks rather suspect at the moment.
By assigning Petersen to the minor leagues, Los Angeles will clear $1.125M of cap space off the books, though a good chunk of that is eaten up by Copley’s $825K deal.
More must-reads: