Mike Harrington: The pest-to-pro transition continues for Sabres prospect Matej Pekar | Buffalo Sabres News

Finding that edge in what Pekar loves to do. The mandate in year two in Rochester is to find more of an all-around style after he had just one goal and five assists in his 25-game pro debut. The Sabres know Pekar can score, as he had 28 goals and 63 points in 54 games for two Ontario Hockey League teams during the 2019-20 season.

But it’s much harder when you leave the junior ranks.

“The levels he played before last year, he’s been able to outwill his problems, or outwill his decisions because his compete and skill and his will is so special,” Appert said. “Last year, he got exposed for some of his bad habits and that made it difficult for him. And as he went through the year, his habits became better. He became more trustworthy. He earned more ice time. And then we started to see that agitator start to come back out of him again.”

It starts for Pekar in practice. At 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, we’ve seen this week Pekar is no longer some scrawny 18-year-old.

“I thought he looks strong on the puck. He was physically demanding,” Appert said. “He didn’t look like one of the young kids on the ice and I thought that was a really good sign.”

Better on the puck, sure. But there’s still the requisite hacks and pushes while he’s at it.

“Yeah, he’s the same as in the games,” said a smiling Oskari Laaksonen, who played defense for Rochester last season and dealt with Pekar daily in practice. “You go against him, he is always 100% against you and keeping you on your toes. I like to go against him. Sometimes you get a high stick or something but then you give it back.”