The Boston Bruins and Utah Mammoth are hoping to busy up their draft night early. The two teams are working on a deal involving winger JJ Peterka per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It is not a done-deal yet – but could represent a major draft-day upgrade for the Bruins’ top-six. Boston currently holds the 23rd-overall pick in Friday night’s first round.
Peterka was traded to the Mammoth nearly-exactly one year ago – on June 25, 2025. That deal returned defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan to the Buffalo Sabres. It proved to be an instant win for Buffalo, who promoted Doan to a premier role and got rewarded with a 25-goal, 52-point season. That outpaced Peterka, who matched Doan’s 25 goals but only reached 47 points to go with it. Part of that was thanks to a diminished role in the lineup. Peterka recorded just 16 minutes a night in Utah after averaging 18 minutes in his 68-point campaign with the Sabres in 2024-25.
While this season marked the end of Peterka’s encouraging climb in scoring – kicked off by 32 points in his rookie 2022-23 season and 50 points in his sophomore year – it was not all gloom for the speedy winger. He recorded a 15.7 shooting percentage, 0.1 percent higher than the mark he recorded in a career-year last season. He seems well-set to routinely challenge 25 goals each season and could quickly return to his playmaking ways with a change in scenery.
More to come…
