BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres’ long-anticipated offseason retooling began late Wednesday night with the team agreeing to trade forward JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring.
Both teams announced the deal with Utah revealing it signed Peterka to a five-year contract worth $38.5 million. Peterka completed his rookie contract this season, and was eligible to become a restricted free agent next week.
“There is a lot of excitement and positive momentum surrounding our team right now, and adding a player of J.J. Peterka’s caliber and offensive upside is another great step towards achieving our objectives as a group,” Mammoth president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said.
This is a major swap of young players all within their first three full seasons of NHL experience.
The 23-year-old Peterka is coming off consecutive 25-plus goal seasons, including 27 this year with a career-best 68 points in 77 games.
Doan, a 23-year-old winger, is the son of longtime Arizona Coyotes star Shane Doan, and his departure is the organization’s latest move that separates this Salt Lake City chapter from the past. He had seven goals and 19 points last season as a rookie.
Kesselring, a 25-year-old defenseman, played alongside Doan for the U.S. when it won the world championships in May for the first time since 1933. He completed his second full NHL season with seven goals and 29 points — both career highs.
“One of our priorities as we work through this offseason is making our team more competitive and tougher to play against,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said. “The additions of Michael and Josh will help us tremendously in both of those categories.”
Kesserling is listed at 6-foot-5, with Doan listed at 6-2.
The Sabres were expected to shake up their roster after a disappointing finish in Lindy Ruff’s first season and second stint as coach. Buffalo finished 14th in the Eastern Conference standings and extended its NHL-record playoff drought to a 14th season.
The Mammoth, meantime, acquire a promising offensive star while keeping their No. 4 pick in the NHL draft Friday night. Utah made a late-season playoff push before falling short in finishing 11th in the Western Conference.
“J.J. is a highly skilled, creative, young forward with extremely high upside,” Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong said. “He will help solidify our scoring and add to what is already a great young core of forwards on the roster.”
Peterka is from Germany and was selected in the second round of the 2020 draft, and made his Sabres debut in in 2021-22. In 2023-24, He scored a career-best 28 goals. Overall, he has 67 goals and 150 points in 238 games.
Despite his developing skills, Peterka became the subject of trade talk for much of the past month.
On Tuesday, Adams declined to address the rumors, and whether Peterka had requested a trade, by saying it wasn’t the right time to get into that, and wouldn’t be fair to the player. He then hinted of a potential trade by adding: “I can probably, after the draft and when we have other conversations, get into more specifics on things.”
Adams is on the hotseat entering his sixth season, and is expected to make more moves, with defenseman Bowen Byram a potential trade candidate.