The Top 25 Under 25 is a collaboration by members of the Die By The Blade community. It was a combination of six staff writers and over 485 fans that ranked players under the age of 25 as of August 10, 2021. Each participant used their own metric of current ability and production to rank each player.
The “Buffalo Sabres Top 25 Under 25” continues today with one of the organization’s newest and youngest prospects, JJ Peterka.
Peterka has quickly ascended the list of Buffalo Sabres top prospects within the last calendar year, and rightfully so.
At 19 years old, Peterka played professionally in the DEL against other professional hockey players. In 30 games, Peterka was able to amass 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists).
Furthermore, when the World Junior Championship rolled around, Peterka starred for Germany. In five WJC games, Peterka tallied 10 points (four goals, six assists).
Peterka’s style of play is what sets him apart from other players in the Sabres organization. Elite Prospects points out, “His unrelenting motor is a force multiplier in every zone. He’s hard on every puck. He’s an eager, willing combatant in board battles. He’s violent, disruptive — a real pain in the ass.”
No level of hockey seems too much of a challenge for Peterka.
This next season will be very big for not only the Buffalo Sabres but Peterka himself, as he makes the jump over to North America.
Buffalo’s forward prospect pool has notably been quite shallow as of late.
If Peterka is able to continue his expedited growth in the American Hockey League, the road to the National Hockey League could be a short one.
#25 Casey Fitzgerald
#24 Aaron Huglen
#23 Linus Weissbach
#22 Aleksandr Kisakov
#21 Albert Lyckåsen
#20 Erik Portillo
#19 Devon Levi
#18 Matej Pekar
#17 Oskari Laaksonen
#16 Isak Rosen
#15 Jacob Bryson
#14 Ryan Johnson
#13 Mattias Samuelsson
#12 Tage Thompson
#11 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen