There is much joy in the air with the Stanley Cup Final starting this week. It’s happy times for those two fanbases and teams, but also sad that hockey season is coming to a close. As we’ve done so far, there are targets for the Boston Bruins to go after via the offer sheet route. Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi and New York Rangers winger Will Cuylle are very logical candidates for the Bruins to go after. Another key player to hone in on is Buffalo Sabres winger J.J. Peterka.
Changes Coming in Buffalo
It is not always about the biggest star or fish on the open market. That’s the common denominator with these candidates. Are they the Matthew Knies of the world? Not necessarily. But what they are is legitimate, talented players that can come in and improve your forward group. For the Bruins, they need all the skill and talent that they can get, and Peterka is the type of talent that fits the bill.
The Sabres are a very intriguing team. Every season, we say, “they will take that next step forward”, yet they haven’t. According to Frank Seravalli, a good portion of the Sabres roster is unhappy with the direction of the team. It could lead to significant changes, as the team has already hired former Columbus Blue Jackets general manager (GM) Jarmo Kekalainen as the senior advisor to current GM Kevyn Adams.
Safe to say, changes are coming, and this is where the Bruins should come in and make a run for Peterka.
Peterka Would Fit Like a Glove
The Bruins need scoring wingers, and they need talent. Peterka is the perfect type of player that this team needs. Not to mention, he brings the necessary offensive upgrade to the lineup. You’d like to think he would be a very key piece to the puzzle of the Sabres, but another team’s mistakes are another team’s blessing.
Peterka is a player that has notably gotten better with each passing season. The 2022-23 season was his first true season in the NHL, where he scored 32 points in 77 games. The best part about his game is his shot and how he is unafraid to use it. Peterka set a career high in goals (28) during the 2023-24 season and nearly matched that output during the 2024-25 season with 27. One positive note is that Peterka has seen his shooting percentage rise from 12.4% to 15.6%. You love to see that.
This is a player that the Bruins can utilize to their advantage. During the 2024-25 season, Peterka saw deployment primarily in the offensive zone, and a lot of his shifts were in the other team’s end of the ice. The confidence and trust in him were huge, as he saw his time on the power play skyrocket over 100 minutes more, and his production rose as well (seven points to 18 points from the season prior).
Now, imagine you are the Bruins and in dire need of an added boost offensively. Players like Peterka are perfect complementary building blocks, and he would fit perfectly with the Bruins. Slotting in right behind David Pastrnak would give this team the much-needed added layer of goal scoring. He’s notched over 50 points two seasons in a row, and the sky is the limit for him as a player.
But, everything comes at a price, so now it’s time to talk dollar figures.
How the Bruins Make this Work
If the Bruins are going to make this offer sheet work, they’ll have to try and put the Sabres in a position where they won’t match the offer. It would be hard to imagine where they fail to match it, as they have $21.4 million in available salary cap space. For the Bruins, they have $28 million in space, so they have the ammunition to pull off such a move.
According to AFP Analytics, they project Peterka to sign a seven-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $8 million. Seems steep, but with the salary cap rising, that’s expected. If you are the Bruins, you could very well put the team in a position to let him go.
Peterka is similar to Rossi when it comes to output. Like Rossi, Peterka had 60 points this season. Putting an offer on the table of seven years with a $7-$8 million range would certainly be enticing. For compensation, if the offer sheet is signed and the transaction is complete, it results in a 2026 first, second, and third-round draft pick being surrendered to the Sabres. It sure seems like a steep price to pay, but the Bruins are getting a guaranteed top-six winger that is plugged into the lineup on Day 1.
This could handcuff the Sabres, as that would eat up nearly one-third of their available cap space. For the Bruins, they get another 20-goal scorer for the foreseeable future, which seems like a no-brainer decision.
Build for the Future
The Sabres have a lot of decisions to make, but so do the Bruins. The three players that have been mentioned are all 23 years old and would make the Bruins better for the present and the future. This allows them to properly build and gives them the needed talent and depth they need. Peterka should not be overlooked, and a player that should be all over the Bruins’ radar.
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