{"id":559686,"date":"2026-04-02T06:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/559686\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T06:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T06:02:16","slug":"jj-peterka-has-come-miles-defensively-heres-how-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/559686\/","title":{"rendered":"JJ Peterka has come miles defensively. Here’s how \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forever and ever, JJ Peterka and Josh Doan will draw comparisons to one another. That\u2019s what happens when you get traded: Everyone wants to know which team won the deal.<\/p>\n

Buffalo Sabres fans, who had a love-hate relationship with Peterka throughout his time there, have declared themselves the winners as the first post-trade season nears its end. Josh Doan has really broken out this season, and he has already been rewarded with a life-changing contract \u2014 and there\u2019s still a chance that the other player in the deal, Michael Kesselring, could find his stride too.<\/p>\n

While Doan deserves all the recognition (and money) coming his way, those Sabres fans don\u2019t realize how much Peterka has evolved.<\/p>\n

The tricky thing about evaluating hockey players is that defensive metrics aren\u2019t as complete as offensive ones. It\u2019s obvious that a player is having a good season if his goals and assists are higher than normal, but there\u2019s no singular statistic that measures the magnitude of a player\u2019s defensive game.<\/p>\n

So, seeing that Peterka is on pace for three fewer goals and 21 fewer points than last year gives Buffalonians something to point at. But in reality, Peterka is a much more complete player than he was in the East.<\/p>\n

Mammoth defenseman Ian Cole said much of the change, both offensively and defensively, comes from the difference in systems. After all, the Sabres were eighth in the league in goals-for in Peterka\u2019s final season there, while being fourth-worst in goals against. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur team game and our structure and how we want to do things, if you buy in inside of that structure (and) play really well individually, those numbers can for sure go up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Within the Sabres\u2019 system, Peterka was on the ice for 83 goals against through 77 games in 2024-25. Through 74 games with the Mammoth so far, he has allowed just 43.<\/p>\n

To put that into context, his on-ice goals-against at even strength are better than all but one player currently penciled in for my Selke ballot.<\/p>\n

Does matchup strength have to do with that? Of course. He won\u2019t get Selke votes because he doesn\u2019t always face opponents\u2019 top players and the team doesn\u2019t deploy him in key defensive situations.<\/p>\n

But in an area where Peterka was a liability in Buffalo, he excels in Utah.<\/p>\n

Mammoth coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny mentioned Peterka\u2019s effort as a reason for the change, and he denied that coaching has much to do with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve it or not, I\u2019m not talking to JJ much about his defense,\u201d Tourigny said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a topic of conversation between him and I. It\u2019s more about all the grind of the game, you know? The forecheck part, the puck protection part, the winning loose-puck battles, the net presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterka sees it as a combination of awareness, experience and structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a super good team in the D zone. I think we\u2019re, like, top in the league, so I think that helps,\u201d he told the Deseret News. \u201cBut I think (it\u2019s) just awareness. I mean, I\u2019m trying to get better and grow every year, and that was a big aspect for me, going into this year\u2019s season, to just focus a little bit more in the D zone and play on the right side of the puck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c… \u201cI think stick-wise, I got way better. I think I was committed last year as well. I think it\u2019s just, maybe, like, the reps, maybe just getting more experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as fans want to declare the winner and loser of the trade, Peterka is glad to see the Sabres succeeding after suffering through so many years of playoff-less hockey.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I have so many buddies still there \u2014 so many great people. So, I\u2019m always cheering for them, talking to them a lot,” he said. \u201cAll of them are super hyped, and also for the fan base and stuff, it\u2019s super to see them succeed and to be in such a good spot. I\u2019m excited for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Utah Mammoth right wing JJ Peterka (77) celebrates scoring a goal in the second period as the Utah Mammoth and Calgary Flames play at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forever and ever, JJ Peterka and Josh Doan will draw comparisons to one another. That\u2019s what happens when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[3125,385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-559686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-news-feed-local","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}