Journeyman Lane Pederson signed in Philly seeking an NHL opportunity. Now he’s got one and is trying to make it count

SALT LAKE CITY ― Familiarity and opportunity.

Those are two reasons why several free agents signed with the Flyers this season, as Christian Dvorak, Noah Juulsen, and Dan Vladař did. It’s why Lane Pederson did, too.

After spending the last two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers organization, the centerman saw Philly as a place where he would have an opportunity to return to the NHL. And he had familiarity with Rick Tocchet and assistant coach Jay Varady. On July 1, he signed a one-year, two-way deal worth $775,000 in the NHL.

On Wednesday, Pederson will skate in his second game for the Flyers against the Utah Mammoth (9 p.m., NBCSP). The 28-year-old will be the pivot on the fourth line, replacing Rodrigo Ābols, who went down with a long-term injury on Saturday.

» READ MORE: The reeling Flyers needed a spark Monday. Bobby Brink provided it in his first game back from a concussion.

In the Flyers’ win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, he played his first NHL game since March 30, 2023, with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pederson skated a little under 9 minutes in a game filled with special teams. It’s a departure from his deployment by John Snowden, the coach for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, where Pederson had 13 goals and 28 points in 37 games. With the Phantoms, he was centering the team’s top line — between Denver Barkey and Alex Bump.

“Just a really great human being, down to earth, and made me feel welcome in Lehigh right away. So really appreciative of him, obviously,” Barkey said. “A special player, really reliable, 200-foot, but also really smart. He skates well, holds on to pucks, and kind of does it all. So it’s exciting to have him here.”

Largely a career minor leaguer, Pederson entered the season with 71 NHL games across four teams: the Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, and Blue Jackets.

His tenure in Arizona overlapped with Tocchet and Varady, with the former at the NHL level and training camps, and the latter in the AHL. He was also with Tocchet for a few days after the bench boss was hired by Vancouver before being claimed off waivers by Columbus.

“Jay was awesome for my development [during] my time in Tucson,” Pederson said. “It’s a familiar face and someone I can kind of lean on and go ask questions, and he’s kind of helped me along the way. He’s open door and kind of open book, so he’s been great.

“We’ve kind of kept in touch throughout the years, text here and there, congratulate one another on milestones and stuff like that. So it’s awesome to be able to work with him and Tocc again.”

» READ MORE: Flyers takeaways from ‘a gutsy win’ against the Golden Knights

According to Tocchet, Varady and Pederson spent time together going over video and on-ice reads since he joined the Flyers for the three-game road trip that ends Friday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche. Consistency is something that Pederson has been chasing, but the bench boss likes what the Saskatchewan native can bring to the bottom of the lineup.

“He’s got some speed up the middle, something that we want, we need, and I think that can help his wingers,” Tocchet said. “So if he can play [with] speed up [but] now the reads and sometimes he’s got to know puck decision stuff, that’s stuff he’s going to have to learn at this level to be consistent. But it’s tough to find those speed up the middle guys.”

Sam Ersson (7-8-4, .860 save percentage) will get the start for the Flyers. It will be the first time he starts back-to-back games since Dec. 18-20. Last season in Utah, the Swede had a masterful performance, with the Flyers ultimately losing in overtime despite Ersson stopping 39 of 42 shots. ... It looks like Nikita Grebenkin will slot back in on the fourth line. Carl Grundström stayed out on the ice during the optional morning skate. .... Goalie Dan Vladař continues to work his way back and was on the ice for the optional skate at the Delta Center after not participating in the team’s practice on Tuesday. He did skate on his own on a different rink.