Pettersson Parts Ways With Flyers Organization

Photo: Nina Weiss/Highland Park Hockey

Flyers' 2014-7th round pick returns to native Sweden

Written by: Tony Androckitis - Twitter/Facebook

Jesper Pettersson won't be returning to the Philadelphia Flyers organization in the fall. After completing his three-year entry level contract this past season, the undersized defensive defenseman is returning to his native country to play in Sweden's pro league with Djurgårdens IF (SHL).

Pettersson posted a quick thank you to the Flyers for the opportunity on his Instagram, calling his three years with the organization 'interesting'.

I would like to thank the @philadelphiaflyers for three interesting years. I have learned and seen a lot and I have met fantastic players and friends. Now it's time for a new chapter in my career.

The Flyers can retain Pettersson's rights in North America by extending the pending restricted free agent a qualifying offer this summer, but it seems rather unlikely he was in the organization's future plans anyway. The influx of young talent like first rounders Sam Morin and Travis Sanheim and most recently highly regarded Phil Meyers - an undrafted addition to the Flyers organization - forced Pettersson's plummet down the organizational depth chart.

Pettersson did play a full year at the AHL level in his rookie season back in 2014-15 under then-Phantoms head coach Terry Murray - appearing in 51 games that season, tallying two goals and five assists to go along with 35 penalty minutes and a minus five. In 2015-16, Pettersson split time between the AHL and ECHL, appearing in 24 AHL games and 43 ECHL games - doing most of his offensive damage with the Reading Royals tallying 20 points (four goals, 16 assists)

This past season, Pettersson didn't appear in a single AHL game with the Phantoms - instead dressing for 58 regular season games with the Royals and nearly matching his totals from 2015-16 with 24 points (four goals, 20 assists).

The writing was on the wall for Pettersson in a Flyers organization that is stockpiled with talented blue liners. Though undersized the 5-9, 187 pound defenseman played a physical game and was capable of dishing out some big hits. The opportunity with the Flyers surely didn't go as well as Pettersson would have liked, and the return home to continue playing pro hockey in Sweden was the obvious (and logical) choice.