The Rochester Americans have lost another assistant coach.
Michael Peca has been hired on Peter Laviolette’s staff with the New York Rangers, per Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek.
That leaves coach Seth Appert in the market for two new assistants after Mike Weber was hired by the St. Louis Blues on June 14.
Peca spent two seasons on the Rochester bench, overseeing the forwards and the power play and helping the development of Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka in 2021-22, and Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen this season, among others.
“It's the most fun you could ever expect, especially being in Rochester where we're trying to develop these guys for the Buffalo Sabres,” Peca said of coaching Quinn and Peterka at development camp last summer. “It was fun. I mean, Jack had that experience in Rochester a little bit the year before so he was a little bit more understanding to some of the stuff that was being taught and expected of him.
“JJ took a while. JJ, I think only had three goals through his first 20-25 games or so. Started to understand the things that we were trying to teach him as a staff and next thing you know, I think he ended up with maybe four or five or six hat tricks to the end of the season. He's an impressive young man. I still view him as a unicorn. I can't find anybody I've ever played with or against, even in today's game, that resembles the type of player he can become.”
Peca is no stranger to Laviolette, having played for him for two seasons with the New York Islanders in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and also serving as a development coach for the Washington Capitals in 2020-21, where Laviolette was the head coach.