Cal Petersen, Spencer Martin headline NHL waivers for Oct. 2

Only a handful of players hit the waiver wire on Wednesday, including a few familiar names to NHL fans.

Two of the notable names on the list are goaltenders.

Cal Petersen was placed on waivers by the Philadelphia Flyers. The 29-year-old joined the organization last season after being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in June. He played five games with the Flyers, posting a 2-2 record with a 3.90 goals-against average and an .864 save percentage. As he has for the past couple of seasons, Petersen spent most of the season in the American Hockey League. With the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, he went 10-15-3 with a 2.71 GAA, a .902 SV% and two shutouts.

Petersen is entering the final year of his three-year, $5 million AAV contract that he signed with the Kings.

Spencer Martin signed a one-year contract extension with the Carolina Hurricanes last March, months after he was claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played six games while the team had its share of injury woes between the pipes, posting a 4-1-1 record with a 2.63 GAA and a .896 SV%. He has bounced around North America since turning pro in 2015, spending time with the Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks organizations.

Here is the full list of 12 players placed on waivers on Wednesday:

Carolina Hurricanes: Spencer Martin
Colorado Avalanche: Jack Ahcan, Matthew Phillips, Calle Rosen
Columbus Blue Jackets: Trey Fix-Wolansky
New York Rangers: Benoi-Olivier Groulx
Philadelphia Flyers: Cal Petersen
Pittsburgh Penguins: Mac Hollowell, Jimmy Huntington, Marc Johnstone
San Jose Sharks: Andrew Poturalski, Scott Sabourin

Another intriguing player who was placed on waivers is Matthew Phillips. The 26-year-old signed a one-year contract with the Avalanche in August. It comes after a rather strange 2023-24 campaign for Phillips. He started the season with the Washington Capitals but was claimed off waivers by the Penguins in February. Then, just a few weeks later, he was re-claimed by the Capitals after being put back on waivers.

Phillips has played 34 NHL games, scoring a goal and five points.

Wednesday’s total is less than half the number of players who were placed on waivers on Tuesday, as 27 players from the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Kings, Minnesota Wild, Rangers, Seattle Kraken and Canucks. All players cleared except goaltender Jiri Patera, who was claimed by the Boston Bruins from the Canucks.