Prime Time Winger Will Cash In
Total Season Stats: GP 77, G 27, A 41, PTS 68 -1
Age: 23
Contract Status Ending 3 year deal, $855,834 per season, RFA
Buffalo’s rising star is a wanted man. His services are being sought after through trade and possible offer sheets. He is due for a new contract and his new deal will be a major bump up in pay. He has earned it. JJ Peterka had himself quite a season for the Buffalo Sabres. He had a career high in assists and points while scoring 27 goals as well. Diving deeper than just his stat line, Peterka is outstanding 5 on 5. For every 60 minutes JJ is on the ice, Buffalo scores nearly 4 goals a game. Nobody in the NHL who played more than 55 games had a percentage that high. He averaged higher than stars like Nikita Kucherov and Leon Draisaitl. Peterka picked a good time for a breakout season and he looks to get better still. JJ forecasts to be a point per game player in the near future. I foresee a new scoring leader for the Sabres soon, he has 80-90 points per season potential.
Now a little negative of course, like everyone on the roster. As with many of Buffalo’s young forwards, Peterka’s defensive game leaves a lot to be desired. His backchecking and defensive zone coverage needs improvement. Much of that will come with time and experience but the effort needs to be there too. JJ is so good offensively though, he is the one young player on the team I would let slide a little. Only a little. He was such a talented force this past season and will only get better. It may not seem like it but he carried the team at times. When Tage went on a 6 game goalless slump or Tuch couldn’t pick up an assist to save his life, Peterka was the one constant. Or as close to a constant as the Sabres have. Even if he wasn’t scoring, he was generating chances still. To my eye, he must have hit close to 10 goalposts this past year too.
So what do the Sabres do with their young star? Teams are calling on him since before the trade deadline. He is a prime candidate for an offer sheet too. Do the Sabres go big and sign him long term? Does Peterka even want that? It will be big money if that is the case. It’s crazy to me that entry level contracts just jump to 7 or 8 million nowadays for the better players. There is almost no in between. Nobody settles for Alex Tuch type money anymore and he signed his deal (4.75 million) only 6 years ago. Even if Peterka signs a 2 year bridge deal, (which still keeps him RFA when it ends) it’s still going to cost Buffalo about 6 million a year. If he signs long term, it’s closer to 8 million per year probably.
Grading Peterka is pretty easy for me, I like what I see. He is one of Buffalo’s top players, he kicks ass 5 on 5 and he’s only going to improve with time. Count me among the fans who want to keep this player. I do hope he eventually rounds out his overall game better but I’m willing to overlook it for now. JJ is pretty dominant on offense and he’s just getting started. I sure hope Peterka is a team guy, wants to stay and signs for reasonable money. Well, reasonable big money. He is a large slice of the core to me, if he meets that criteria.
Hang your report card on the fridge JJ and make sure to show Mom and Dad.