Just minutes after the Buffalo Sabres announced the signing of goaltending prospect Jonas Johansson, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish announced that fellow Sabres prospect Cal Petersen will not be returning for his senior season. Instead, Petersen will either sign a professional contract with the Sabres, or wait to become a free agent later this summer. Since four years have passed since Petersen was selected in 2013, the Sabres will have just 30 days to sign him before he becomes a free agent.
Interestingly, the announcement from Notre Dame comes without any inkling that the Sabres are close to a deal with the goaltender. Though Tim Murray was clear before he was fired he had made an offer to Petersen to join the club, it’s not clear where new GM Jason Botterill stands with him. While Petersen was with Team USA at the World Championships earlier this month, he had said the idea of competing in the Olympics would factor into his decision on whether or not to turn pro. Apparently, that didn’t have enough of an effect to keep him in school.
Petersen is a top goaltending prospect after posting three outstanding seasons at Notre Dame and developing into an excellent all-around goaltender. Though he doesn’t have the size of many NHL netminders—Petersen stands just six-foot-one—he has excellent positional play and was even the first goaltender in Notre Dame history to serve as captain. He started 90 consecutive games for the school, and set several school records including his .924 career save percentage.
Botterill won’t be alone in wooing Petersen to Buffalo, as earlier today John Vogl of the Buffalo News reported that Sabres superstar Jack Eichel had given him a pitch before the US World Championship team had split up.
I obviously told him that we’d love to have him. I just kind of gave him a bit of an earful about what Buffalo is like, how passionate the people were here and how great an organization it is.
As he’s done with everything so far, Petersen will likely take his time to weigh all of his options now that he’s made this decision. The longer it stretches into June the more Buffalo fans will cross their fingers, but the Sabres are still clearly the favorite to land him after spending a fifth-round pick on him and being in constant contact.