JJ Peterka: "just fun and excitement"

[LGR4GM]

What does JJ need to do to be in the calder conversation? He currently has 3pts in 3 games including two excellent goals. I thought last night was actually not a great game from him but he was still fine. At this point he is outplaying Quinn (although we should not be surprised by Quinn starting slow when he bumps of a level, it is his MO) and he should only improve as the season progresses. 

I mean, this is just stone cold veteran level stuff here. 

 

As JJ Peterka said... just fun and excitement 

 

Edited October 19, 2022 by LGR4GM

[Sabres Fan in NS]

He is very impressive in the first 3 games.

Fun and excitment is right.

We all thought that he would score goals and assist on others, but what about the other parts of his game?  Will he be a good all-round player or more one dimensional.

If he continues to play like this as a kid in the NHL he will be getting serious consideration for the Calder.

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

He is very impressive in the first 3 games.

Fun and excitment is right.

We all thought that he would score goals and assist on others, but what about the other parts of his game?  Will he be a good all-round player or more one dimensional.

If he continues to play like this as a kid in the NHL he will be getting serious consideration for the Calder.

JJ was one dimensional when he got to the AHL, he had really mediocre playmaking skills. They improved a ton so I think he can be a well rounded player who is a pain in the ass to play against at both ends of the ice. Never forget, JJ Peterka is 20. He won't peak for another 4 years, it's gonna be a ride. 

One more thought... JJ Peterka with Jiri Kulich is going to give teams nightmares in 2-3 years. 

[North Buffalo]

Thing I like about JJ is he has all that skill and has size to absorb a hit... what has impressed me a lot is his play in the corners using his body to control pucks.

[Flashsabre]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

JJ was one dimensional when he got to the AHL, he had really mediocre playmaking skills. They improved a ton so I think he can be a well rounded player who is a pain in the ass to play against at both ends of the ice. Never forget, JJ Peterka is 20. He won't peak for another 4 years, it's gonna be a ride. 

One more thought... JJ Peterka with Jiri Kulich is going to give teams nightmares in 2-3 years. 

Kulich-Cozens-Peterka😁

[GASabresIUFAN]

How to get into the Calder conversation?  Average a pt a game for the season.  That should do it.

[mjd1001]

Its early, but so  far when I watch him it doesn't appear the game is too 'fast' for him mentally.

He is a quick player physically, but so are a lot of young guys. The difference I see with JJ is, he reacts to things quickly. Not a lot of time to stop and think of where to go or what to do. He recognizes things and then reacts.  A trait that a lot of young players (maybe Quinn?) take a year or two in the NHL to develop, he seems to have already.

[Eleven]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

What does JJ need to do to be in the calder conversation?

Probably wait until January or February, when the reasonable Calder conversation starts.  Right now it's just about the top few picks from last summer as it always is.

[RochesterExpat]

18 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Thing I like about JJ is he has all that skill and has size to absorb a hit... what has impressed me a lot is his play in the corners using his body to control pucks.

He's very good at positioning himself to protect a puck off the boards and in the corners. It's almost immediate. As soon as he takes possession, he's shifting himself to a defensive possession posture. He's similar when attacking in the corners as he positions himself and his stick to almost naturally impede the path of the puck possessed by another player which is what makes his forechecking so challenging for defense. It's a very stereotypically European style of playing hockey played almost to perfection. It's like a European Alex Tuch, honestly.

To build off that though, my only criticism (and it comes with all the verbiage below to explain) for JJ is that he needs to start playing through the body and finishing hits where appropriate--something a large portion of the team needs to do more consistently, frankly. Otherwise we will end up with another Victor Olofsson who remembers he can use his body once every 5 or so games. JJ plays with such great body positioning already that I'm sure this aspect of his game will naturally evolve at this level as he gets more games/seasons in the NHL.

I'm not saying the team needs to be out there throwing open ice hip checks on every shift and that I expect JJ to be putting players to the ice. I'm specifically saying this because that weakness of the team as a whole was made readily apparent yesterday. The Sabres could not slow down the McDrai onslaught in the third period yesterday and a physical presence would have helped reset the tone. The absence of Lyubushkin was certainly made obvious. It's something the "kids" will need to learn, adapt and step up to. We have a lot of supremely talented finesse players. We are lacking in people who can reset the speed of the game. We need some of those players to step up when appropriate. Peterka is an obvious one.

I'm sure everyone here is about to jump all over me and say that JJ must be a physical player because of how he strips the puck or just magically comes up with it in the corner--because you would think he is from his play--but he has zero recorded hits this season and it was one of the only criticisms for his play at the end of the last season in Rochester. The fact he's so successful with his body positioning in these few games in the NHL without the physical aspect of his game should be a solid indication of his talent level. If he can add just a touch of physicality when needed--like last night's third period--there is little doubt in my mind that the Peterka/Cozens duo will be in our Top 6 for the foreseeable future. There are times when the team needs to control the pace of play and the easiest way to slow down the other team is to bump them off the puck and exhaust them.

A promising sign though? He turned up his play a notch in the Amerks playoff run last year and started to use his body when the team was getting pushed around. I am confident he'll get there in the NHL with time.

1 hour ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

We all thought that he would score goals and assist on others, but what about the other parts of his game?  Will he be a good all-round player or more one dimensional.

Michael Peca drilled home to him the need to backcheck and was praising his growth. Peca famously called him a "unicorn" and that's often recited, but there's other aspects of that interview (and others) that have more important takeaways. The reason JJ is a "unicorn" is because he's an instinctive player, but he is also professional to a T and wants to improve at all aspects of his game. He has both the on-ice motor and the off-ice motor. 

Quote

"He's incredibly fast, powerful, instinctual," Peca said. "He became one of our best penalty killers by the end of the season. I think at the start of the season, we never expected him to ever be able to kill penalties. But that's how far he grew in his understanding of how impactful he can be without the puck and without scoring."

"He has no idea how good he can be, which is scary. It's the blend of the power and speed and the skill set with his hands and his shot and his ability to play in a physical game. He can play in any environment, and he can dominate in any environment.

Peca referring to him as "one of our best penalty killers" is high praise considering Peca won the Selke twice. Peca complimented his backchecking drive and his growth in the defensive area of the ice as well repeatedly throughout the playoffs.

Last season, JJ scored 68 points (28G, 40A) in 70 appearances with Rochester during the regular season which was good enough to lead the team, lead all rookies, and finish 10th in the league for scoring. He then added 12 points (7G, 5A) in 10 playoff games.

In his first 23 games in Rochester, he scored 4 goals and had 16 assists for 20 points. Five of those points came in games 2 and 3 when teams were still "settling in" and he was essentially feeding Jack Quinn goals. The first 23 games included a 10 game stretch without a goal and an 8 game stretch with only two secondary assists. He was a defensive liability. He was an offensive liability. His positioning was poor because he was still adapting to NA ice size. He ended up in Buffalo because of COVID, played two games with little impact, and was sent back to Rochester.

In the next 45 games in Rochester, he scored 24G and 24A. He then maintained the scoring pace through the playoffs. He went from a defensive liability to getting primary assists on 2 of the 5 shorthanded goals Rochester scored all season--despite only spending half the season on the PK. The evolution was crazy and the storyline was only overshadowed because Jack Quinn was a scoring machine. 

I think Peterka is going to be one well-rounded NHL player. It will take time and I'm sure he's going to have some pretty bad streaks where everyone is saying he should be sent down (and he might very well be), but he's going to eventually be a fixture in the Top 6 that will make this team measurably better.

It's also worth noting Peterka said that of all the players at development camp this year, the one who impressed him the most was Juri Kulich. 😉