JJ Peterka doesn’t need a reminder about what happened in Utah. Thursday night at the Garden will give him one anyway.
A little over a year after the Mammoth landed him in a trade with the Sabres for Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring, Peterka will be lined up against his old club. Utah didn’t stop at the trade, either.
The team signed him to a five-year contract with an average annual value of $7.7 million. But after his numbers fell from 27-41-68 in his final season in Buffalo to 25-22-47 last year in Utah, the Mammoth dealt him to the Bruins for a pair of first-round picks.
Peterka didn’t try to duck the story of his season in Salt Lake City. He said he owns his part in how it played out.
“First of all, I don’t think I was really good last year,” said Peterka. “I wasn’t really happy with myself the way I played and the way I produced.
At the end of the day, that’s business…If you don’t produce or meet expectations things will happen like that. That’s just how it is.
It’s a hard league. I know it now.
If you don’t take it too personal at the end of the day, every team tries to improve or tries to get their things right. So as a player, you just try to play your best wherever you play.
So having that mindset going forward help a lot and I’m just trying my best out there.”
From Peterka’s point of view, the issue wasn’t effort or attitude. It was a matter of fit. Utah has Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller, and he believes the roster wound up crowded with too many similar pieces.
“I think it was just the fit, at the end of the day. It wasn’t really there.
There were a lot of similar players. Those things happen sometimes and you move on,” said Peterka.
He said he enjoyed his time with the Mammoth and liked the people around the team, but he isn’t pretending this one doesn’t carry a little extra edge.
“Definitely. I think it’s always good playing against your old team,” said Peterka.
“It’s going to be fun. They’re obviously super-skilled and a good team, great group of guys.
I’ll definitely be having a lot of fun throughout the game.”
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