The Buffalo Sabres have dealt one of the NHL’s top trade targets in a blockbuster deal with the Utah Mammoth less than a week before he was set to become a restricted free agent.

According to a league source, Buffalo is sending JJ Peterka to Utah for right-handed defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan. As part of the deal, Peterka has agreed to a five-year contract extension with the Mammoth worth $7.7 million per season.

Peterka set a career high with 68 points this season and has back-to-back seasons with at least 27 goals. The Sabres traded up to make Peterka, a native of Munich, Germany, the 34th pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. After a 68-point season in the AHL, Peterka put up 12 goals and 20 assists in his rookie season in 2022-23. He had 28 goals and 50 points in 2023-24 before his breakout 68-point season this past year.

Why did the Sabres trade Peterka?

Up until last week, the Sabres had been telling teams around the league that they didn’t want to move the 23-year-old winger. When Peterka’s name first surfaced in trade rumors at the trade deadline, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said he had no interest in trading him and that he viewed him as part of Buffalo’s core. Adams also noted at the time that, “we need to make sure we’re also explaining to him how we’re going to make the team better.”

Once it became clear Peterka wanted a change of scenery and was unlikely to sign long-term, Adams opened the door to trade discussions, and the Sabres have had plenty of potential trade partners. Asked about Peterka during his pre-draft news conference on Tuesday, Adams wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Peterka had asked for a trade but said, “We have a plan.” Now Peterka is off to Utah.

Peterka was a commodity because of his age, production and that he has four years before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. A cost-controlled scorer who is only just entering his prime was particularly valuable this summer because of an underwhelming free-agent class of wingers after Mitch Marner and Nikolaj Ehlers.

The Sabres weren’t looking to trade another homegrown talent, but the contract situation made it something they were open to. By trading him, the Sabres were able to address other needs on their roster and have made another significant change to the core of their roster. This trade comes just a few months after Adams sent Dylan Cozens to the Ottawa Senators as part of a package that brought center Josh Norris to Buffalo.

What are the Mammoth getting in Peterka?

Peterka got heavy usage on the first line and Buffalo’s top power play, which helped showcase his offensive ability. He’s a strong skater who can create offense off the rush, but Peterka is still a bit of a streaky scorer at this point in his career. 

Of his 68 points, 24 came in the team’s final 22 games once the playoffs were out of reach. 

For all of his offensive talents, Peterka is still a work-in-progress as a player. He admitted at the end of the season that he needs to improve his body language and manage his frustration better during the course of games. He’s also still working to become reliable defensively. The Sabres only controlled 46 percent of the expected goals when Peterka was on the ice at five-on-five last season. 

What are the Sabres getting in return?

The biggest piece of this trade is Kesselring, a 25-year-old right-handed defenseman who has the ability to play top-four minutes alongside Owen Power. He’s 6-foot-5, 220 pounds and plays with the nastiness to match that size. He has another year left on his contract at $1.4 million before becoming a restricted free agent. Players like Kesselring aren’t easy to acquire. And there aren’t a ton of them on the market this summer. He’s exactly the type of defenseman Buffalo needed.

Doan gives the Sabres another forward coming back in the deal. The 23-year-old son of former NHL great Shane Doan, Josh Doan had 19 points in 51 games for Utah last season. He’s an impactful forechecker who plays an all-around game that should fit in Buffalo’s middle six. Doan is entering the final year of his entry-level contract.

The Sabres also end up saving significant cap space in this deal. They’re taking back just under $2.5 million in cap hits for next season. With Bowen Byram, Ryan McLeod, Jack Quinn, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Devon Levi as restricted free agents, the Sabres still have a lot of in-house business to handle. And Adams has to use this additional savings to improve a roster that finished last season with 79 points. Shipping out the team’s second-leading scorer is a risky move, but we’ll see how it fits into the rest of Buffalo’s offseason puzzle.

(Photo of JJ Peterka: Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images)