Los Angeles Kings place goaltender Cal Petersen on waivers

The Los Angeles Kings have placed goaltender Cal Petersen on waivers.

Petersen is in the first of a three-year deal worth $5 million per season.

Once viewed as the goaltender of the future in Los Angeles, Petersen, 28, has a 5-3-2 record with a .868 save percentage and 3.75 GAA in 10 games this year. It’s a far cry from his early NHL days where he looked destined to replace Jonathan Quick, but he has struggled the past few seasons and looks to have fallen out of favor with the Kings. Petersen allowed four goals in a 9-8 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, the highest-scoring game of the 2022-23 NHL season. He has allowed at least three or more goals in five of his past six starts, with four of them coming despite facing fewer than 30 shots.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Petersen. It’s unlikely a team will grab his contract, and he could end up on the roster for Thursday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes. The team doesn’t have another goalie up with the club right now, so it could be more about sending a message than anything.

Los Angeles currently has six goaltenders under contract, including Phoenix Copley, who has experience with the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues. The likely scenario will see the goaltending lineup stay the same, but perhaps this says that GM Rob Blake could be in the market for another goaltender sooner rather than later.

If Petersen wants to stick in the NHL, he needs to be much better. Simple as that. Across the board, his analytics are among the worst of all goaltenders. Quick hasn’t been much better, but LA has taken advantage of weak performances by Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to sit third in the Pacific Division.