“He’s a super skilled player, I think all three of us as a line, we like to play fast,” Cooley said. “He’s a guy that obviously can move and I think the more we’re using our speed, it’s tough to match. He’s been great, he plays the game the right way, is super skilled, he can score, he can make plays and we’re jelling well right now.”
In Peterka, the Mammoth knew they were adding a highly-skilled player to a young, talented core.
Utah got off to a strong start this season paced by a seven-game winning streak, which came to an end in a 6-3 loss at the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 28.
“I didn’t know him personally before he got here, but I did as a player a little bit,” Cooley said. “We weren’t in the same division (as Buffalo), so you don’t see them as much. But overall, he’s a shooter and likes to shoot the puck and obviously his shot is unbelievable. He’s a great guy, great to be around and it’s nice when things are jelling well.”
So far, it’s been a seamless transition for Peterka from Buffalo, where he had 150 points (67 goals, 83 assists) in 238 games.
“He brings speed, skill and chemistry to our team,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “If you look at our four lines, they have an identity, they have a way to play, that’s the way we wanted it. We have a little bit of everything throughout the lineup and JJ with his linemates bring a lot of speed. They move the puck really well and they see each other on the ice.”
Tourigny said Petera is making strides on both ends of the ice and is developing into a strong two-way player.
“You have to give him a lot of credit. We’ve worked a lot with him on his play without the puck and away from the puck and he’s improved a lot,” Tourigny said. “He’s receptive to coaching. From his battle level to his details defensively and getting on the right side of the puck, you look at the way he strips pucks tracking back, he’s really engaged.”
While not on the preliminary German roster for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in February, Peterka is expected to represent his country, where he will get an opportunity to play alongside Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl.
The two have never been part of the same German national team.
“I’ve played against him six or seven times and those matchups are always pretty fun,” Peterka said. “We, for some reason missed each other with the national team. When he played at the Worlds, I didn’t play and it was the same thing the other way around. But it’s going to be awesome at the Olympics, having all the guys at once together and sharing the ice with them, that’s going to be awesome.”
Draisaitl, along with defenseman Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings, goalie Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken, forwards Lukas Reichel of the Vancouver Canucks, Nico Sturm of the Minnesota Wild and Tim Stutzle of the Ottawa Senators were named to Germany’s preliminary Olympic roster.
Germany is in a group with the United States, Latvia and Denmark and opens the 12-team tournament against Denmark on Feb. 12.
“I know him a little bit,” Draisaitl said of Peterka. “I never had the chance to play with him, I’m looking forward to hopefully doing that in February (at Olympics) with him. He’s a super skilled kid and he’s doing pretty well in Utah.”