After a dismal spell with the Flyers, this former big-money goalie is getting another chance at the NHL.
With training camp fast approaching, the group of unsigned former Philadelphia Flyers players continues to shrink, even if only temporarily.
On Tuesday, the Washington Capitals announced that former Flyers goalie Cal Petersen will join them for 2026 training camp on a PTO, giving the southpaw netminder an opportunity to earn himself a contract for the 2026-27 season.
Petersen, 31, spent the 2025-26 season with the Iowa Wild, Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, appearing in 33 games and posting a bog-standard 13-16-2 record with a 2.73 goals-against average, a .896 save percentage, and four shutouts.
The former fifth-round pick has 106 games of NHL experience, which primarily came with the Los Angeles Kings as the once-heir-apparent to Jonathan Quick.
Petersen, $5 million cap hit and all, was traded to the Flyers organization in 2023 as part of the three-team deal that sent Ivan Provorov to Columbus in the last big subtraction of the Flyers' rebuild.
Petersen's time with the Flyers was unremarkable and understandably brief--the Kings' big-money salary cap dump was 2-2-0 in five games with the big club in 2023-24, but stumbled to the tune of a .864 save percentage and 3.90 GAA as Philadelphia scrambled to replace Carter Hart.
The Waterloo, Iowa, native's last NHL game came back on Feb. 25, 2024, when he allowed seven goals on 32 shots (.781 save percentage) in a 7-6 loss to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins with the Flyers still alive in the playoff chase.
Since then, Petersen has spent the past two seasons exclusively in the minors, including an unsuccessful 2024-25 run with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and this surprise opportunity with the Capitals is his latest attempt to revive an NHL career that once appeared to be on a promising trajectory.
Overall, Petersen boasts a 46-44-10 record, a 2.96 GAA, and .903 save percentage across his six-year NHL career.
The Capitals already have Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren established as their NHL tandem, while Clay Stevenson and Mitch Gibson are the incumbent holdovers from the AHL Hershey Bears.
That leaves Petersen facing an uphill battle for a roster spot at either level, but his NHL experience could make him a depth option for Washington in the event of injury.
For a goaltender who hasn't played an NHL game in more than two years, the PTO with Washington is effectively the final chance for Petersen to put himself back on the radar in North America.
