[1] After a sterling junior career with the Portland Winter Hawks, Peterson was selected in the first round, 12th overall, of the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft by the Detroit Red Wings.
Early in the 1981–82 season, Peterson was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres in a monster six-player trade centered around Mike Foligno and Danny Gare.
In Buffalo, he would hit his stride as an NHL player as a key component of one of the best checking lines in the league alongside Craig Ramsay and Ric Seiling.
Peterson was claimed by the Hartford Whalers in the waiver draft on the eve of the 1987–88 season, and would suffer through the worst year of his career with just 2 goals and 9 points in 52 games.
He would rebound to have an improved year in 1988–89, registering 4 goals and 17 points in 66 games for the Whalers while anchoring the top penalty-kill unit alongside Dave Tippett.
Following his Memorial Cup championship in 1998, Peterson moved back to the NHL to accept a job as the associate coach to Barry Trotz with the expansion Nashville Predators.