Buffalo Sabres sign John-Jason Peterka to entry-level contract

The Buffalo Sabres have today announced that forward prospect John-Jason Peterka has signed his three-year entry-level contract with the organisation.

With a potentially new rebuild on the horizon, the Buffalo Sabres have moved to sign one of their top prospects to their entry-level contract, with German forward John-Jason Peterka putting pen to paper on his rookie deal.

The Sabres originally selected Peterka out of Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) club EHC Red Bull München, taking the versatile forward in the second round (34th overall) in the 2020 Draft.

Peterka has spent his career in both his home nation of Germany as well as neighbouring Austria, where he excelled in the Red Bull Salzburg Under-19s academy team, registering 45 goals and 94 total points in 48 regular season games in the Czech Under-19s league.

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During his draft year, Peterka turned professional with München and had 11 total points (seven goals, four assists) in 42 appearances.

Since being drafted, Peterka has put in some impressive performances in both Germany with München and in Austria once again with the RB Salzburg senior team.

In Austria, the München native put up seven goals and 16 total points in just 12 games before going on to register an impressive 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) back in the DEL.

His strong performances saw him earn international recognition, with the 5-foot-11, 192lbs featuring in six games for Team Germany at the IIHF World Championships in Riga, scoring a goal on route to finishing fourth in the tournament.

Now, Peterka has signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres and will work towards achieving his dream of playing in the NHL in the near future.

It’s possible that Peterka will return to Germany next season, having another year of development in the comfort of his home nation while the Sabres figure out their immediate plans for the transition period they look set to begin this off-season.

This would enable the German forward’s cap hit to slide a year, which would benefit the Sabres if they do not intend on bringing him up to the NHL next season, allowing them time to add more young talent to the pool, with a focus on building a competitive roster through youth.

For Peterka, returning to Germany or moving over to North America to play in the AHL with the Rochester Americans are the most likely options available to him, with both having their benefits and drawbacks, so it will be interesting to see why Peterka ultimately plays and how his development progresses in the short-term.