Buffalo Sabres Officially Trade JJ Peterka to Utah Mammoth

This NHL off-season is shaking up to be a wild one, and ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft, we've already had some surprise deals made, and that didn't stop on Wednesday as the summer is truly already heating up around the league.

After the Evander Kane trade early in the day, the night was finished off by the Buffalo Sabres, who officially traded star forward JJ Peterka in a deal that sends him to the Utah Mammoth, who add a talented young star to their already intriguing core.

The news broke that the deal was close to happening, and once it did, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman revealed this as the return for Buffalo, in what may be an underwhelming deal for the team:

On the surface, it's a tough look for the Sabres, who could have gotten much, much more for Peterka, with many expecting that Buffalo could use the deal to move up in the NHL Draft on Friday.

Instead, they'll get two solid NHL players, with Doan having plenty of upside at the NHL level, but after two fantastic seasons for Peterka, the expectations for the trade were much higher.

Ultimately, this was a deal that nobody saw coming, and while it was always likely that Buffalo were going to trade their former second-round pick, they could have gotten a better deal, so now we'll have to wait and see how this one pans out.