JJ Peterka’s homecoming was a reminder of a trade the Sabres and Mammoth can both win.
(Jeff Roberson | AP) Utah Mammoth’s JJ Peterka (77) in action during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in St. Louis.
Buffalo, N.Y. • When the Buffalo Sabres traded JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth in June, they didn’t post any social media thank-yous or well-wishes to him on his way out. General manager Kevyn Adams barely said his name in the news conference after the trade.
The icy split between Peterka and the Sabres continued on Tuesday when the 23-year-old made his first return to Buffalo as a member of the Mammoth. NHL teams have become quick to put tribute videos and welcome-back messages on the jumbotron for just about any former player. Peterka didn’t get either one. The Sabres didn’t acknowledge his return in any way.
The home fans did, though. They booed Peterka every time he touched the puck throughout Utah’s 2-1 overtime win against the Sabres. Given the way he departed, this reception shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
On Tuesday morning after Utah’s morning skate, Peterka was asked if he requested a trade or why he wanted out of Buffalo.
“Well, I met so many great people in the organization,” Peterka said. “I made so many good fans, but yeah, I think just right now, my focus is on Utah, on the season, so yeah.”
That coached and canned non-answer said plenty.
It’s unclear when exactly Peterka soured on his situation in Buffalo. He was a high second-round pick in 2020 and a favorite of owner Terry Pegula. He spent just one season in the AHL before the Sabres threw him into a big NHL role. He got power-play time right away, was a top-six player by his second season and a top-line player in his third season. When Peterka’s name came up in trade rumors at the trade deadline last season, Adams referred to him as a core player.
But when Peterka was a restricted free agent set to negotiate his first deal coming out of his entry-level contract, it became clear he was interested in signing that deal elsewhere. It’s not a mystery why a player might not want to play for a team that’s missed the playoffs for 14 straight seasons. But Peterka was part of that, too. He wasn’t exactly a positive presence in the locker room for most of the last two seasons. He wouldn’t even smile after some of the 55 goals he scored the last two years. Peterka himself admitted his body language wasn’t great at the end of last season.
And then there was the issue of Peterka’s defensive game. Despite all the goals he scored, Peterka was a defensive liability far too often. The Sabres were heavily out-chanced when Peterka was on the ice at five-on-five last season. Had he really done enough to warrant forcing his way out of town?
In the end, Peterka got what he wanted. He didn’t have to roll his sleeves up and help fix the woebegone Sabres. He got a fresh start and a $38.5 million contract with an up-and-coming Utah team. Utah got the speedy and skilled winger it wanted for its top six. Peterka has 10 points in 13 games, and the Mammoth are off to a 9-4 start.
And the Sabres may have ended up with what they needed.
Whatever it was that happened between Peterka and the Sabres, Buffalo is better off after this trade. The Sabres didn’t have time to deal with another disgruntled player or wait for him to start playing a more complete game. Instead, they turned him into Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring, two players who filled clear needs in Buffalo’s lineup and have already had a noticeable impact on the ice and in the locker room.
“In the NHL, if you want a good player you have to give a good player,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “You don’t attract a young, impactful player like JJ without giving up something that you don’t want to.”
Doan has nine points in 13 games and a 58.9 percent on-ice expected goal share at five-on-five, and is already a favorite in the locker room. Kesselring missed the first eight games of the season but has shown early signs of being a stabilizing presence on Buffalo’s blue line.
Equally as important, they’ve both embraced the opportunity they’ve gotten in Buffalo and seem genuinely passionate about being part of a team that snaps the Sabres’ playoff drought. Doan has emphasized how much he and his family were excited by the idea of him playing for the Sabres. His father, Shane, was a franchise legend in Arizona. Some of the people in that organization have known Josh since he was born. Doan didn’t see a path to a bigger role in Utah; he has one here with a chance to step out of his father’s shadow.
“That was part of why my family was so excited,” Doan said. “I got the chance to move and be my own player, my own person and grow my own relationships. Those people are all people I care about, but it’s nice to kind of build your own brand and your own game. That’s something no matter what, if I was coming up in Arizona or Utah, it was going to be that ‘Shane’s kid’ mentality.
“Not that that’s a bad thing in any way. Obviously he’s my mentor. But it is nice to break free from that a little bit.”
It’s only been 13 games since the trade, which is too early to come to any sweeping conclusions. But this has the look of a trade that could make everyone involved happy, even if it took some tension between Peterka and the Sabres to even make it a possibility.
“We like what we got and they like what they got,” Ruff said. “Sometimes, that’s what a hockey trade is about.”
