The Detroit Red Wings have their own playoff drought to deal with. But they’re not the only team in the Atlantic Division dealing with one. Heck, the Buffalo Sabres are going on a decade and a half, let alone the 10-year milestone the Wings would rather not hit.
And the Sabres did themselves no favors late on Wednesday night when they traded JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth. That’s right. While Peterka joins the NHL’s latest franchise, one that continues to distance itself from the feeble Arizona Coyotes, the Sabres look like they’re going to keep being the Sabres.
Here, they had someone who only improved throughout his three full seasons in Buffalo, capping off the 2024-25 season with 68 points and 27 goals. So, unless the Sabres have something up their sleeve right now, and given Kevyn Adams’ track record, I doubt that’s the case, then they just gave the Mammoth a big win here.
The Mammoth fleeced the Sabres in the Peterka trade
While all signs pointed to JJ Peterka getting traded, a player I’d have gladly given up the No. 13 pick for, few signs pointed to the way a team like Utah would’ve fleeced them. But fleece them they did, as the Mammoth only gave up Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring.
Kesselring played low second, and high third-pairing minutes last season, and had 29 points and seven goals to show for it. For someone averaging 17:41 of ice time, Kesselring wasn’t bad, with 67 blocks and 87 hits. But does it make up for everything Peterka’s done, especially over the last two seasons? Hey, it’s the ultimate stretch.
As for Josh Doan, he’s barely played more than fourth-line minutes, hovering somewhere between it and the third line last season with 13:31 of average total ice time. Doan just completed his age-22 season, logging 19 points and seven goals in 51 games.
For me, this trade makes little sense unless the Sabres are planning on bringing in Mitch Marner, or someone at least somewhat comparable via another trade. But if that were the case, then why not just make JJ Peterka part of a package for someone like Jason Robertson?
Yeah, it’d cost them a first-round pick and a high-end prospect. But at least I’d be writing something along the lines of “The Red Wings should be scared of the Sabres in 2025-26” instead of laughing hysterically at this trade.
Dear Steve Yzerman: Don’t make a trade like this
Right now, Steve Yzerman’s a polarizing figure in the Red Wings fan base. Some want him gone, but others want the former franchise great to stick around and see the Yzerplan through.
But if he wants a one-way ticket out of town, at least for a time, then he can trade someone like Dylan Larkin to a Western Conference team for a pair of mediocre producers. And no, I’m not endorsing something like this, and you wouldn’t hear the end of it from me if it happened unless the Wings ultimately win out on such a deal.
Anyway, unless something happens this summer and the Sabres all but bring in a star player to build around, chalk this one up as the most head-scratching move of the early offseason. I honestly don’t know what the Sabres were thinking.
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