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The Arizona Coyotes have placed goaltender Erik Kallgren on unconditional waivers, with the intention of terminating his contract, hockeysverige.se, reports.
The 23-year-old only played five games this season — three in Rapid City (ECHL) and two in Tucson (AHL) — and didn’t necessarily play bad by any means. He posted above .900 save percentages in his games in the minor leagues.
If you look at the numbers, his termination is in no way a result of bad play, rather a result of goaltender competition.
Kallgren was burried deep in the Coyotes goaltending depth chart already consisting of Antti Raanta, Darcy Kuemper, Adin Hill, Ivan Prosvetov, and Merrick Madsen. Remember when the team didn’t tender Hunter Miska in the offseason? This is all for the same reason, movement like this is bound to happen in a tightly contested goaltending pipeline.
Kallgren will likely look to return to Europe and play in the SHL. A return to the North American game is unknown at this point