Matthew Peca
Peca with the Syracuse Crunch in 2017
Born (1993-04-27) April 27, 1993
Petawawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 175 lb (79 kg; 12 st 7 lb)
Position Centre
Shoots Left
NHL team (P)
Cur. team
Former teams		 St. Louis Blues
Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL)
Tampa Bay Lightning
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
NHL Draft 201st overall, 2011
Tampa Bay Lightning
Playing career 2015–present

Matthew Peca (born April 27, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round (201st overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. After playing four years at Quinnipiac University, he made his NHL debut during the 2016–17 season.

Playing career

Amateur

Prior to turning professional, Peca played for the Pembroke Lumber Kings in the Central Canada Hockey League. He won the league title the Royal Bank Cup in his final year with Pembroke. He was drafted by the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League priority.[1] In the offseason before the 2011–12 season, he was claimed off waivers by the Kitchener Rangers but never played for them due to his commitment to Quinnipiac University.[1][2]

Peca attended Quinnipiac University for four years, where he played four seasons with the Quinnipiac Bobcats men's ice hockey team which competes in NCAA's Division I in the ECAC Hockey conference. He was recognized for his outstanding play with the Bobcats when he was named as a freshman to the 2011–12 ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team,[3] and in his final season was named to the 2014–15 All-ECAC Hockey First Team and team co-captain.[4]

Professional

Peca was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the seventh round in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.[1] After graduation from Quinnipac University, Peca signed an amateur try out with the Lightning's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch[5] before signing a two-year entry level contract with the Lightning on April 1, 2015.[6]

On December 27, 2016, the Lightning announced that Peca would be called up to the NHL roster.[7] On December 28, Peca made his NHL debut in a 4–3 Lightning overtime win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens.[8][9] On December 31, Peca recorded his first career NHL point, which was an assist on a goal by Alex Killorn.[10] On January 3, 2017, Peca scored his first NHL goal against Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, making him the first Quinnipiac Bobcat to score a goal in the NHL.[11] On July 5, 2017, Peca signed a one-year, two-way contract extension with the Lightning.[12] On January 4, 2018, Peca was named to the 2018 AHL All-Star game.[13]

Peca chasing the puck during the 2022 Calder Cup Finals.

As a free agent, Peca signed a two-year, $2.6 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens on July 1, 2018.[14] During the following 2018–19 season, on 8 November 2018, Peca scored his first goal for Montreal in a 6–5 overtime defeat against the Buffalo Sabres.[15] In the final year of his contract with the Canadiens in the 2019–20 season, Peca was unable to keep his role in the NHL through training camp and was placed on waivers before he was assigned to AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. He appeared in five scoreless games on recall with Montreal through the season, before he was dealt at the NHL trade deadline to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Aaron Luchuk and a 2020 draft pick on February 24, 2020.[16] He played in five games for the Senators, registering one assist and an additional 21 games for Ottawa's AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, scoring three goals and eleven points.[17]

On July 29, 2021, Peca was signed as a free agent to a one-year, two-way contract with the St. Louis Blues.[17] He was assigned to the Blues' AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds after clearing waivers at the beginning of the 2021–22 season.[18] Peca was recalled on December 10, 2021[19] and played in five games with the Blues, registering one point before being sent to Springfield again on December 20.[20] He was re-signed by the Blues to a two-year contract extension on March 23, 2022.[21]

Peca attended the Blues 2023 training camp but failed to make the roster. He was placed on waivers on October 1, 2023[22] and after going unclaimed, was assigned to Springfield on October 2 to begin the 2023–24 season.[23] He was named the captain of the Springfield Thunderbirds on opening night of the 2023–24 season, on October 14.[24]

Career statistics

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Pembroke Lumber Kings CJHL 60 21 26 47 10 15 3 3 6 6
2010–11 Pembroke Lumber Kings CCHL 50 26 46 72 14 14 11 10 21 6
2011–12 Quinnipiac University ECAC 39 8 31 39 12 — — — — —
2012–13 Quinnipiac University ECAC 39 15 15 30 36 — — — — —
2013–14 Quinnipiac University ECAC 40 12 26 38 16 — — — — —
2014–15 Quinnipiac University ECAC 39 7 29 36 27 — — — — —
2014–15 Syracuse Crunch AHL 8 1 3 4 0 3 1 1 2 2
2015–16 Syracuse Crunch AHL 65 8 35 43 10 — — — — —
2016–17 Syracuse Crunch AHL 68 12 29 41 14 22 4 10 14 4
2016–17 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 10 1 1 2 2 — — — — —
2017–18 Syracuse Crunch AHL 63 13 33 46 18 6 3 6 9 2
2017–18 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 10 2 3 5 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Montreal Canadiens NHL 39 3 7 10 4 — — — — —
2019–20 Laval Rocket AHL 34 4 9 13 12 — — — — —
2019–20 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2019–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 9 0 2 2 0 — — — — —
2020–21 Ottawa Senators NHL 5 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2020–21 Belleville Senators AHL 21 3 8 11 5 — — — — —
2021–22 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 68 23 37 60 16 18 6 10 16 2
2021–22 St. Louis Blues NHL 5 0 1 1 0 — — — — —
2022–23 Springfield Thunderbirds AHL 38 9 26 35 4 2 0 0 0 0
NHL totals 83 6 15 21 6 — — — — —

Awards and honours

Award Year
College
ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team 2011–12 [25]
All-ECAC Hockey First Team 2014–15 [26]
AHL
AHL All-Star game 2018 [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pukalo, Mark (July 27, 2012). "Prospect Report: Matt Peca". Tampa Bay Lightning. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Rangers claim Peca". kitchenerpost.ca. August 12, 2011. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  3. ↑ Sweeten, Ken. "Quinnipiac Ice Hockey's Matthew Peca Featured In Tampa Bay Lightning's Prospect Report". quinnipiacbobcats.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Lands Five On All-ECAC Hockey Teams". quinnipiacbobcats.com. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  5. ↑ Stockton, Evan (December 25, 2015). "#AHLOTB: Matthew Peca Making a Name in Syr". American Hockey League. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Matthew Peca Signs with Tampa Bay". SB Nation College Hockey. April 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Former Bobcat Captain Matthew Peca Recalled By NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning". Quinnipiac University.
  8. ↑ @BBurnsNHL (December 29, 2016). "Peca makes NHL debut against Montreal Canadiens" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Erlendsson, Erik (December 28, 2016). "Lightning find right injection to serve as remedy in comeback victory". Lightning Insider.com. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  10. ↑ @BBurnsNHL (January 1, 2017). "Peca records first career NHL point" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ Smith, Joe (January 3, 2017). "Lightning falls at home to Jets". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Lightning re-sign Matthew Peca to one-year contract". National Hockey League. July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Matthew Peca named 2018 AHL All-Star". syracusecrunch.com. Syracuse Crunch. January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  14. ↑ Cudzinowski, Matt (July 1, 2018). "Canadiens agree to terms with Matthew Peca". Montreal Canadiens. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  15. ↑ Hickey, Pat (9 November 2018). "Habs show moxie by battling back all night, but fall 6-5 in OT to Sabres". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "Matthew Peca heads to Ottawa". CBS Sports. February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  17. 1 2 "Blues sign 3 players to one-year, two-way contracts". St. Louis Blues. July 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Blues' Matthew Peca: Surfaces on waivers list". CBS Sports. October 2, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Blues' Matthew Peca: Joins big club". CBS Sports. December 10, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Blues' Matthew Peca: Dropped to minors". CBS Sports. December 20, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Blues' Matthew Peca: Receives two-year extension". CBS Sports. March 23, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Blues' Matthew Peca: Waived Sunday". CBS Sports. October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Blues assign 4 players to Thunderbirds". St. Louis Blues. October 2, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2023 – via NHL.com.
  24. ↑ Rooney, Brendan (October 15, 2023). "Springfield Thunderbirds drop home opener to Hartford". Masslive.com. Retrieved October 15, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Lightning Prospect Spotlight: Matthew Peca". National Hockey League.
  26. ↑ "League Announces Postseason Awards". ECAC Hockey. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-06-04.
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