Sabres trade J.J. Peterka to Mammoth in massive pre-NHL draft shakeup

One of the NHL’s rising stars is heading west to Utah. The Sabres traded forward J.J.Peterka to the Mammoth early Thursday morning in exchange for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan, the teams announced.As part of the transaction, Peterka – who was set to become a restricted free agent – signed a five-year extension with Utah with an average annual value of $7.7 million. The move comes before the NHL draft, which begins Friday night in Los Angeles.Peterka, 23, is an ideal fit among the Mammoth’s emerging young core. Utah missed the playoffs in its first season after leaving Arizona, but the franchise is stocked with talented young players like Clayton Keller (26 years old), Logan Cooley (21) and Dylan Guenther (22). Peterka, who is from Munich, Germany, is entering his fourth full NHL season and fifth overall. He tallied 118 points across his last two years in Buffalo, including a 27-goal, 41-assist campaign last year. Those stats would have made him the Mammoth’s second-leading goal-scorer and point-getter, behind only Keller, who notched 30 goals and 60 assists. The Sabres picked Peterka with the 34th overall pick in the 2020 draft. Peterka had been involved in trade rumors before the March trade deadline, but he temporarily stayed put in Buffalo, with Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams saying at the time.“We need to make sure we’re also explaining to him how we’re going to make the team better,” Adams said.In his pre-draft press conference Tuesday, Adams did not comment on whether Peterka had requested a trade.The Sabres, who are suffering from an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought, finished second-to-last in the Atlantic Division with a 36-39-7 record last year. Peterka had the third-most goals and second-most assists on the team. The Mammoth hope Peterka can help the franchise snap a playoff drought of their own, which dates back to the 2019-20 season, several years before the move from Arizona to Utah....