Kiefer Bellows placed on waivers, Cal Petersen acquits

This is the second time the 24-year-old winger has been challenged this season. He was claimed by the Philadelphia Flyers on October 27 from the New York Islanders. Bellows appeared in 11 games for the Flyers, scoring zero points and -4 odds.

In a surprising move yesterday, the Los Angeles Kings placed Cal Petersen on waivers. Today we learned that he made waivers and may be able to play for Ontario’s reign in the American Hockey League. Petersen is the most expensive player to go on waivers since Matt Murray stepped down from the AHL in November of last year.

Petersen’s three-year, $15 million contract carries an AAV of $5 million per season. He has struggled a lot this season, posting a GAA of 3.75 and an SV of 0.868%. Despite that, his team scored enough goals to earn the 28-year-old keeper a 5-3-2 record.

Petersen played three seasons for the Ontario Reign from 2017 to 2020, before joining the Kings’ goaltending tandem with Jonathan Quick. He compiled a 53-51-7 record in the AHL.

In 101 NHL games with the Kings, Petersen is 44-42-10 with a 2.92 GAA and 0.905% SV. The Kings are hoping his waiver will be the wake-up call he needs.

Kieffer Bellows was originally a 19th overall pick by the Islanders in the 2016 NHL Draft. He was hailed as one of the hottest prospects playing in five very different levels of hockey from 2016 to 2020. He first played for the United States Under-18 team and then he played one season for Boston University. He then made the unusual move to the Western Hockey League, playing one season for the Portland Winterhawks.

In 2018-19, he turned pro, playing a full season with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the age of 21. Over the past few seasons, Bellows has struggled to stay healthy and stay on the Islanders roster. In total, he played 79 NHL games, scoring 11 goals and 25 points with the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.