San Jose Sharks bring back Jacob Peterson on one-year deal
Jacob Peterson will stay with the San Jose Sharks on a one-year contract after an impressive 12-game audition last season, the team announced on Friday. The Sharks have yet to disclose the value of the contract.
Petey is staying in San Jose!
The #SJSharks have signed forward Jacob Peterson to a one-year contract.
Peterson arrived in California in a seemingly nondescript depth swap, trading places with fellow 2017 draft pick Scott Reedy, who went to the Dallas Stars in the trade on March 3. While Reedy stayed in the AHL, Peterson got a chance with the Sharks and ran with it.
The 22-year-old dished 6 assists and collected 8 points in 11 games with the big club; he played his way onto the Sharks’ power play down the stretch. While Peterson struggled to a -10 rating in for San Jose, producing offense for a poor team in meaningless games is difficult, and he made an impression on GM Mike Grier.
“Jacob is a smart, versatile young forward that fit in well with our group last season,” Grier said. “We’re looking forward to having him back and building upon that start.”
Peterson posted modest AHL numbers (32P in 52GP) last season and will likely never be a top-six player, but getting NHL production from a cheap young player who cost very little to acquire is a plus for a San Jose team in the midst of what could be a lengthy rebuild.
Grier got that process off to a positive start by picking Will Smith, who he hopes will be the team’s top-line center of the future, in the 2023 Entry Draft, but has plenty of work left to do over the summer.
Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, and especially Erik Karlsson are productive veterans with expensive terms left on their contracts. If the second-year GM can move one or all of those players to contending teams, a new era can begin in San Jose.