J.J. Peterka was in Spain when he got the call. For weeks, he had been in trade rumors after refusing to sign a deal with the Buffalo Sabres. Peterka was a restricted free agent, which gave him some control over where he could end up. If the Sabres traded him to a team he didn’t want to play for, he could refuse to play for that team and hold out to eventually become an unrestricted free agent.
Peterka was golfing with one of his good friends, Julian Lutz, who was fresh off his first pro season with the Tucson Roadrunners. During their game, Peterka got the call that he had been traded.
“It was a weird feeling,” Peterka said. “I had never gone through something like that. But then, just excitement. I was super pumped. I was with Lutz. We were pretty happy.”
The longtime friends were even happier because they had just become teammates in a matter of seconds. Peterka was now the newest member of the Utah Mammoth, instantly changing the team’s top six into one that could rival most teams in the Western Conference.
Meet Utah’s Newest Top Forward
At only 23 years old, Peterka has had an impressive career in the NHL already. After a couple of seasons playing in his country’s top hockey league, Deutsche Eishockey Liga, he was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres.
It didn’t take long for Peterka to make his way to the NHL. He spent a season in the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans, recording 68 points in 70 games. While his 2022-23 campaign was mainly about adjusting to the NHL, Peterka improved to an impressive 50-point season in 2023-24. He followed that up with 68 points in 77 games in this most recent season, all while on a bad Sabres team.
For the past 14 years, the Sabres have missed the playoffs. They’ve been a team that has been through turmoil during that long stretch, with multiple feuds and falling outs with players. Jack Eichel, who was the captain of the Sabres, forced his way out after a public dispute on how best to deal with his neck injury. Eichel went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights just a year later.
Other players who left the Sabres to go on and win a Stanley Cup included Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart, and Kyle Okposo. The team underwent multiple rebuilds over the 14-year period, resulting in many young players who struggled to develop in the Sabres’ system being dealt. Meanwhile, despite only being in the NHL for a couple of years, Peterka witnessed all of it.
When the Sabres played the Mammoth the two times they did this past season, Peterka saw something he wanted to be a part of. A young team with an actual plan and path to winning.
“I think the team has a lot of skill,” Peterka said. “I think the speed they played with got me most excited. They’re quick, they move the puck, and they have some serious players who can make a lot of good plays. That was pretty cool to watch.”
With the commitment to win, Peterka also saw everything off the ice. The electric crowd at the Delta Center and the new practice facility being built in Sandy impressed him, and he cited those things as being big reasons why he wanted to be traded to the Mammoth.
“(It’s impressive) how committed the team is to win. I think the best example is probably the new practice facility. That excites me the most. I would say that by playing there once, the atmosphere was great. The fans felt so tight and close to the ice. It’s going to be really exciting.”
The actual city itself made Peterka feel like he was back home in Germany. The beautiful mountain backdrop of Salt Lake City made him fall in love with the city instantly.
“I’m pretty excited about the mountains there,” Peterka said. “I’m from Munich. That’s like one hour if you drive south, here in the mountains. So growing up like that was pretty cool. I think that will feel like home.”
After completing his 68-point season with the Sabres and once again failing to play in any playoff games, Peterka began his path to find a new home for the 2025-26 season. He told the Sabres he didn’t want to sign with them, and he wanted out.
Peterka then started doing some in-depth research about the Mammoth. He looked at their team and how the forward group was constructed. He even asked his Sabres teammate Jack Quinn for info on Mammoth head coach André Tourigny, who Quinn had played under in the Ontario Hockey League.
“I talked to Quinn, actually a lot about it, and he really liked him as a coach and as a person,” Peterka said. “He said he’s a hard coach, but a really good coach. That got me really excited. I also talked to him (Touringy) already. I said I’m super excited. He said it was the same for him.”
Peterka also spoke to Lutz about Salt Lake City and the Mammoth organization. The two have been friends for around a decade, so Lutz’s opinion really mattered. At the end of the day, he had nothing but great things to say about Utah.
“We played together in Salzburg in the academy,” Peterka said. “I’ve known him for 10 years, round about that. We’ve been in close contact since then. He’s super pumped. I’m super pumped. He said it’s a great spot. He said in training camp, he enjoyed it a lot. It gets me excited.”
Meanwhile, Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong was looking to improve his team in a big way. For the past couple of months, it had been rumored that the Mammoth were looking to do something big in the summertime. With the acquisition of the fourth overall pick in the upcoming draft, Armstrong certainly had the tools to do so.
During the combine, Armstrong heard some noise around Peterka. He had seen some chatter surrounding the young forward online, but he took it with a grain of salt. However, with the noise picking up around the combine, Armstrong looked into it, thinking nothing would happen. Instead, he landed the lethal scorer from the Sabres.
It did cost the Mammoth two well-liked players in Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan. However, Armstrong thinks the trade made the Mammoth better, and while Doan and Kesselring could really benefit the Sabres, especially culture-wise, Peterka could put the Mammoth over the top.
“As a GM, you stay tuned into what’s going on in the league, and you make some calls,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t think anything was going to happen, but sure enough, it did. It was one of those things where I think it’s a win-win for both clubs. Buffalo got two real good players, and we got J.J., who’s going to add to our scoring touch on our top two lines. It took some time to mature and get across the finish line, but we were able to do it.”
What Is Peterka Bringing to the Mammoth?
The first thing you notice when you watch Peterka play is his insane speed. That’s no coincidence either. Peterka used to be a speed skater, and he still does some of the drills that he learned from his time doing that.
Peterka also has some serious hands that help him score in unique areas and in bunches. On top of that, he’s a player who wants to win. He’s a younger player as well, which fits the Mammoth’s timeline perfectly.
“He’s a competitor,” Armstrong said. “The one thing that I’ve learned about him from watching him over the years is that he’s got a unique ability to create a ton of speed down the wings, and he can beat goaltenders from distance. That’s one of the things that you like about what he can do. There are a lot of other aspects we like about his game. He’s 23, he’s young, he’s fast, he’s hungry to make a difference.”
Off the ice, Peterka says he’s a funny guy, which should fit him in well with the current Mammoth core. He’s also a very hard worker, always trying to improve on himself and his game.
Peterka’s trade came with a five-year contract, meaning he’s a Mammoth for the long haul. It shows he’s committed to the Mammoth and the team, and that he really wants to be in Utah.
“I think that just shows how committed I am to Utah, how excited I am, and how much I believe in that group and what they’re building there,” Peterka said. “That’s why I decided to do that.”
Peterka will immediately get the chance to play in the top six with players like Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley, who he has said have a lot of skill and speed. He’ll benefit from playing with guys like Clayton Keller, who is one of the best playmakers on the Mammoth. He’ll also get a chance to play on a well-constructed and winning-focused team that is seeking to make the playoffs this season.
If all pans out, Peterka could be the final piece to a potentially lethal top six that includes Keller, Guenther, Cooley, Nick Schmaltz, and Barrett Hayton. He could be one of the best goal scorers alongside Guenther and power the Mammoth to a playoff spot. That’s what Armstrong believes Peterka has the power to do.
“He’s going to have an opportunity to come in and prove himself here and have a good impact on our club, along with a lot of other players,” Peterka said. “I think it helps us solidify our top six.”
For Peterka, just because he got his wish to escape Buffalo and get a big contract doesn’t mean the work is done. He’s back in Germany training with Red Bull Munich for the upcoming season. He says he’ll be working his hardest to get better every day while the summer goes by.
Utah has become the perfect fit for Peterka. He’s surrounded by an organization that is committed to winning, a team with skilled players around his age, and a community that is passionate and excited for him. It seems like Peterka has finally found potentially his forever home in the NHL.
“It’s going to be perfect,” Peterka said. “It’s going to be the perfect fit growing together with those guys and hopefully winning a lot of games.
Players across the league have come to Utah and have been impressed with what the Mammoth have put together in just a year. Some of those players have signed deals with the Mammoth, hoping to help them take the next step. Peterka is a player who wanted more than anything to come to Utah. The call he received in Spain with Lutz could be one of the best phone calls he’s ever gotten because it ultimately could be the one that helped him finally find his permanent hockey home.
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