BUFFALO – Utah Mammoth winger JJ Peterka wanted no part of the questions and revisiting that part of his past here.
Before the Sabres traded him on June 26, did he request to be dealt? Did he want out of Buffalo?
“I met so many great people in the organization,” Peterka replied prior to Tuesday’s game, his first at KeyBank Center as a visitor. “I made so many good friends. But, yeah, I think just right now, my focus is on Utah, on the season.”
Not long ago, Peterka, 22, established himself as one of the Sabres’ core pieces. He scored 28 goals and 50 points in 2023-24 before registering 27 goals and 68 points last season.
But by last year, his third full campaign with the Sabres, he appeared to be growing frustrated. He looked unhappy.
Clearly, his relationship with the team began souring as restricted free agency loomed.
General manager Kevyn Adams said in June the Sabres intended to re-sign the German before “it became apparent to me and our group that it wasn’t going to work.”
So they traded Peterka to Utah in exchange for winger Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring.
The deal has enhanced both teams.
Utah has roared out of the gate, compiling an 8-4-0 record. Peterka, who has registered four goals, 10 points and a plus-6 rating in 12 games, skates on a scoring line alongside center Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
Peterka said “work ethic” has buoyed the Mammoth’s hot start.
“Just everyone’s working so hard, supporting on the ice, off the ice,” he said. “So I think just being a good team together, camaraderie.”
Meanwhile, the Sabres have 13 points, the Eastern Conference’s lowest total. Still, they share that number with four teams. They’re just one point out of the second wild card spot and two points out of third place in the Atlantic Division.
They’re 5-1-3 in their last nine games.
Doan has enjoyed a strong start, scoring four goals and nine points in 12 games while often skating in a top-six role. Kesselring, a right-shot defender the Sabres coveted, recently returned from an undisclosed injury that sidelined him the first nine games.
“I think we like what we got and they like what they got,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.“Sometimes that’s what a hockey trade’s about.”
Peterka, a second-round pick in 2020, 34th overall, sounds energized by playing in postcard-pretty Salt Lake City, a place he called “stunning.”
In Buffalo, his penchant for ill-advised plays drove coaches crazy. In his first weeks with the Mammoth, he has developed into a sounder defensive presence.
“I think from Day One he was really receptive making some adjustments, or doing certain things the way we want them to do it,” Utah coach André Tourigny said.
Returning to Buffalo as a visitor has been a special and even odd experience for Peterka.
He caught up with the former teammates and visited Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s house. When tried to shower in the visitor’s locker room in KeyBank Center, he said he couldn’t find it.
“Definitely something else,” Peterka said. “Yeah, but it’s going to be interesting being on the other side today.”
“That’s an opportunity to help accelerate your career.”
When the #Buffalo Sabres traded JJ Peterka and didn’t add an established top-six forward, few figured they could replace his scoring w/Josh Doan.
More on Doan and Michael Kesselring facing Utah:https://t.co/HKyDUEBZWu
— Bill Hoppe (@BillHoppeNHL) November 4, 2025