The Utah Mammoth made waves with their first major move of the 2025 NHL offseason on Wednesday night. Utah swung a trade to acquire winger JJ Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres. This trade could kick off a major flurry of moves ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft.
Peterka was a trade candidate long before this deal came together. He is the first of a few dominoes that could fall for both Buffalo and Utah. And this is a rather significant stone for both sides.
With the news still relatively fresh, let’s take a look at this deal for both sides. It’s time to hand out grades to the Mammoth and Sabres for their part in the Peterka trade. Before giving out those grades, here is how the trade went down:
Utah Mammoth acquire: Forward JJ Peterka – Peterka signed a five-year contract extension worth $7.7 million per season
Buffalo Sabres acquire: Forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring
Mammoth Trade For JJ Peterka
Rebecca Villagracia/Getty ImagesThe Utah Mammoth and Buffalo Sabres completed the JJ Peterka trade on Wednesday night.
Peterka is a fantastic addition for the Mammoth. In some ways, he is a rather perfect fit. The 23-year-old can keep up with Utah’s speed game. And he can put away the scoring chances they generate with their speed.
His offensive impact is quite impressive, as well. The now-former Sabres star finished with 21 Offensive Goals Above Replacement in 2024-25, according to Evolving Hockey. Only Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, and Leon Draisaitl finished this past season with a higher OGAR.
Peterka’s defense certainly holds him back. He finished with -6.6 Defensive Goals Above Replacement this past year. And this played a role in his WAR only being 2.5, while McDavid, Kucherov, and Draisaitl all had a WAR north of 3.0.
Still, Peterka’s offense is highly tantalizing to teams like the Mammoth. He is coming off his best career season. Putting him with players such as Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther could allow him to thrive as an offensive presence.
The Mammoth will certainly want Peterka’s defensive ability to improve. If his offense develops as many expect it to, though, he’s worth this trade and contract extension for that alone.
Mammoth grade: A
Sabres Get Two Players in Peterka Trade
There is one thing we should acknowledge before getting deep into Buffalo’s side of this. The Sabres got two really good players in this deal. In terms of talent value, there is a chance they got a fair return for Peterka.
Kesselring solves one of the Sabres’ primary offseason needs. Buffalo had little depth on the right side of their blueline outside of Jacob Bernard-Docker, who mainly plays in a bottom-pairing role. Kesselring can step in and play top-four minutes for Buffalo immediately.
Doan, meanwhile, has potential at the NHL level. He has not put together at this level, but he has less than a full season’s worth of games under his belt. If he reaches his potential, Doan could become a leader at the top of the Buffalo lineup.
In saying all of this, this deal represents a bad look for Buffalo. Peterka’s immediate impact and his potential are greater than Kesselring and Doan. The Sabres’ inability to keep Peterka is another in a long line of failures when it comes to retaining homegrown star talent.
Sam Reinhart, Casey Mittelstadt, Jack Eichel, and now Peterka have all left in recent years. These aren’t all analogous situations, of course. But it’s certainly not a great look, especially given that Peterka immediately signed a contract extension with the Mammoth.
Buffalo has to hope Kesselring and Doan make an immediate impact. If they don’t, this could be an even worse look in hindsight. The logic of receiving NHL-caliber talent makes all the sense in the world. For now, it doesn’t look like the value lines up just right.
Buffalo Sabres grade: C
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