Utah Acquires J.J. Peterka in Exchange for Doan and Kesselring

The Utah Mammoth announced today the acquisition of forward J.J. Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring. Peterka’s five-year contract with the Mammoth has an average annual value (AAV) of $7.7 million.

“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,” said Chris Armstrong, president of hockey operations for the Utah Mammoth. “We are excited to welcome J.J. to Utah and know our fans are going to love what he brings. On the other side of this, it is never easy to say goodbye to players of the highest character like Michael and Josh – we are certainly grateful for their contributions to our organization and trust their careers will continue to flourish in Buffalo.”

“J.J. is a highly skilled, creative, young forward with extremely high upside,” said Bill Armstrong, general manager of the Utah Mammoth. “He will help solidify our scoring and add to what is already a great young core of forwards on the roster. Signing J.J. to a long-term extension is another positive step towards building a sustainable contender here in Utah, and today is an exciting day for our entire organization.”

Peterka, 23, tallied 27-41-68 and 34 penalty minutes (PIM) in 77 games with Buffalo in 2024-25, finishing tied for second on the team in scoring. Peterka set new career highs in assists, points, power-play goals (6), power-play assists (12) and power-play points (18).

The 6-foot, 189-pound forward has posted 67-83-150 and 88 PIM in 238 career NHL games with the Sabres. He ranked third on the team in goals (55) and assists (63) over the last two seasons and scored a career-high 28 goals over 82 contests in 2023-24. Over that stretch, Peterka also ranked fourth in goals and eighth in points among all NHL players aged 23 or younger.

Peterka sits seventh in career points and sixth in goals and power-play points (11-19-30) among all players from his 2020 draft class. He played one American Hockey League (AHL) season with the Rochester Americans in 2021-22, earning 20-48-68 and 28 PIM in 70 games. Peterka led all AHL rookies in goals and points and was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team.

The native of Germany has represented his home country at numerous international tournaments, including two IIHF World Junior Championships (2020 and 2021) and three IIHF World Championships (2021, 2023, and 2024). He was named Best Forward at the 2023 World Championship after registering 6-6-12 in 10 games to help Germany win a silver medal, marking its first medal finish at the tournament since 1953.

Peterka was originally drafted by the Sabres in the second round (34th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft.

Doan posted 7-12-19 and eight PIM in 51 NHL games with Utah in 2024-25 and has tallied 12-16-28 in 62 career NHL contests with Arizona and Utah. Kesselring registered 7-22-29 and 89 PIM in 82 NHL games with Utah in 2024-25 and has recorded 12-41-53 and 161 PIM in 156 career NHL contests with Arizona and Utah.