The Buffalo Sabres most controversial deal of the offseason was swaping restricted free agent winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan. The deal may have been spurred by a combination of factors on the part of Peterka and the club, but the swap thus far has benefited both clubs.
Peterka has fit in nicely with the up-and-coming Mammoth squad after signing a five-year, $37.5 million deal after the trade, with 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 13 games. Kesselring missed nearly a month to start the season after suffering a lingering injury at the end of training camp, and is playing with Bowen Byram, but the pleasant surprise has been Doan, who has nearly identical numbers to Peterka (4 goals, 5 assists in 13 games) playing on the Sabres second line with Ryan McLeod and Alex Tuch.
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“At this level, you’re going to be put with good players no matter what, from first line to fourth line, you have deep rosters in the NHL and everyone can play. So I think it was just a matter of an opportunity to have a confidence in myself, to build off something like this,” Doan said. “I’m gonna get an opportunity or two just because of (Alex) stripping a puck or creating a turnover on his own. And hopefully it’s one of those things where I can create the same thing for him, and (Ryan) has been awesome down the middle for us (and) his speed pushes teams back and and that’s allowed us to kind of create space.”
The deal was in part necessitated because Peterka wanted to get paid on a long-term deal after finishing second in scoring last season with 68 points, and based on what the club did in free agency (two year deals to Justin Danforth, Alex Lyon, and Conor Timmins), as well as re-signing winger Jack Quinn, the Sabres wanted to sign the 22-year-old to a bridge deal. This resulted in Peterka requesting a trade, but he evaded answering that when asked before the Utah-Buffalo game on Tuesday.
“I met so many great people in your organization. Made so many good (friends),” Peterka said. “But I think just right now my focus is on Utah (and) on the season.”
The deal brought Doan to Buffalo in the final year of his entry-level contract at $925,000, and the right-handed Kesselring in the last year of a two-year, $2.8 million bridge deal, making it not only a good hockey deal, but a beneficial economic trade as well. After this season, both players are restricted free agents, and could be in the same scenario as Peterka was last summer, looking for a long-term commitment.
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