The Buffalo Sabres kicked off NHL draft week in emphatic fashion with a big trade early Thursday morning.
General manager Kevyn Adams continues to rework his roster, but it's also time for Adams and his staff to make their annual additions to their prospect pool.
Less than two days before start of the draft Friday in Los Angeles, the Sabres traded forward JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan in a deal announced after midnight Thursday morning.
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Former Sabres right wing JJ Peterka jumps the boards at the start of his shift against the Bruins on April 6. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
But instead of making the swap on an arena floor, as you often see this time of year, the Sabres did it from their home base in Western New York. This year's draft is decentralized, meaning that management and hockey operations staffs for each of the 32 teams will operate remotely out of their own cities as they select players. It's much like the format used for the NFL and NBA drafts.
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The draft begins at 7 p.m. Friday with the first round, and continues at noon Saturday with rounds 2-7. A few dozen prospects will be in the Peacock Theater, and they include Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, projected to be taken No. 1 overall by the New York Islanders. The bulk of key personnel from the NHL teams’ front offices won’t be in Southern California, and the Sabres have based their draft-week operations in the Buffalo Bills' training facility in Orchard Park.
“The advantage is that we’re at One Bills Drive,” Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said Tuesday when he met with reporters in advance of the draft. “We’re pretty fortunate that Terry and Laura (Pegula) and Brandon (Beane, Bills general manager) and Sean (McDermott, Bills head coach) offered this up. When they called and asked me, I jumped at it.”
The Sabres have 10 picks in this year's draft, and are slotted to draft at No. 9 in the first round. But they are one of several teams in the top half of the round believed to be willing to trade the pick.
Peterka gets wish?
The trade of Peterka, 23, comes after Adams attempted to douse rumors of the move Tuesday.
Adams said the Sabres’ exit interviews with the winger in the spring were “very positive, productive, honest conversations.”
Yet, when directly asked if Peterka had asked to be traded, Adams didn’t move into specifics.
“I don’t think it’s probably productive or beneficial to me to get into specifics on our players, right now,” Adams said. “This is the time of year when there’s so much going on, and there’s probably a lot of misinformation out there, and I guess I probably will leave it at that.”
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Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams traded JJ Peterka for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan early Thursday morning. Derek Gee, Buffalo News
Adams didn’t deny that Peterka had asked to be traded, either.
A little more than 36 hours after making those statements, Peterka is on his way out of Buffalo after four seasons. As part of the deal, Peterka agreed to a five-year contract extension with Utah worth $7.7 million annually.
The forward from Munich, Germany, is coming off a strong offensive season, scoring 27 goals with 41 assists for a career-best 68 points. Peterka’s production significantly improved in the final 25 games as he scored 12 goals and 27 points with a plus-4 rating.
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Michael Kesselring (left) skates the puck around the defense of Winnipeg center Morgan Barron during the third period April 5 in Salt Lake City. Tyler Tate, AP file
Kesselring, 25, is a 6-foot-5 right-shot defenseman who gives the Sabres an option to play next to Owen Power on Buffalo's second pair. He had seven goals, 22 assists and a plus-4 rating for Utah last season.
"I've got to earn it, still, and have a good camp, but I think I had a lot of experience this year, up and down, and playing against top guys, and playing against third- or fourth-line guys, and learning how to manage the game and learning how to manage all different types of players," Kesselring said Thursday on a video conference.
"There's a lot of ways I can impact the game, and I'm hoping this opportunity for me, here, helps me take off a little bit."
Doan, the son of former Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan, scored seven goals with 12 assists and was minus-2 in 51 games with Utah. He just completed his second professional season, and split 2024-25 between the Mammoth and the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League, scoring 11 goals with 15 assists and 22 penalty minutes in 28 games in the AHL.
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Utah Hockey Club right wing Josh Doan skates with the puck against the Kings in April. Doan was traded to the Sabres on Thursday. Melissa Majchrzak, AP file
Josh Doan said he's making production a priority, whether it's proving he can play on both ends of the ice or upping his scoring ability.
"That's something I learned last year, is how hard this league is and how hard you have to work," Doan said Thursday on a video conference. "But last year I had to prove myself defensively to stick in the NHL and prove that I can play both ends of the ice.
"But there's an element of my game that, I do think I can score on the next level, and I know I can. It's something that, in the AHL, I got an opportunity to do, and it's something that, over time, over experience and playing more games, you get that little element."
Both returning players are signed through next season, with Kesselring at a cap hit of $1.4 million, and Doan at $925,000.
“One of our priorities as we work through this offseason is making our team more competitive and tougher to play against," Adams said in a team statement early Thursday morning. "The additions of Michael and Josh will help us tremendously in both of those categories, and I am excited to see them in a Sabres uniform soon.
"Michael fits the mold of the right-handed defensemen we have been looking for, and we are thrilled he brings both size and compete. We believe he will help add balance to our blue line, while elevating the rest of the 'D' corps. Josh is a player that has shown the ability to win at multiple levels and brings great leadership pedigree to our organization. He’s a strong two-way player who we believe will be able to provide versatility to our group.”
Mike Harrington: In wake of flimsy Peterka return, more big Sabres moves have to be on the way
Logic tells you the Sabres have to be getting a top-six forward back at some point soon to take Peterka's spot. But logic and the Sabres don't usually connect, Harrington says.
Up-and-down season
Peterka's first season under coach Lindy Ruff was productive, but difficult, at times.
Peterka hit January with just 10 goals and 26 points in the Sabres' first 36 games, and dealt with the impacts of a concussion suffered in Buffalo's second game in Prague against New Jersey.
He drew the ire of Ruff at times for his lax play in the defensive zone, which was reflected in some of his analytics. The Sabres, for instance, gave up 54.8% of the scoring chances when Peterka was on the ice at 5 on 5, and 56.5% of the high-danger chances. But Peterka's play improved at both ends of the ice as the season went on, particularly over the final 20 games.
As a restricted free agent, Peterka was in line for a huge salary increase from his entry-level deal that had him playing for a cap hit of just $855,833 last season. And while the Sabres were seemingly prepared to offer a deal in the range of $6-7 million per season that he eventually signed with Utah, Peterka never seemed enthusiastic about moving forward with Buffalo.
He often was sullen in the locker room last season and admitted to reporters during his exit interview in April that he knew he needed to improve his body language on the ice, as well.
Rumors exploded about a Peterka deal in March at the trade deadline, with interest being shown by the New York Rangers, but the Sabres insisted they were not shopping Peterka and only receiving calls.
That was the case early in the offseason, as well, until it became clear Peterka preferred a move. Peterka wasn't a high draft pick like Jack Eichel or Sam Reinhart, but he was yet another top-line player who preferred to leave Buffalo.
Adams took Peterka with the No. 34 pick in the 2020 draft, trading picks 38 and 100 to San Jose to move up to grab a player they had a pegged with a first-round rating.
Peterka had a huge year in Rochester in 2021-22, scoring 28 goals and 68 points in the regular season, and then added seven goals and five assists in 10 playoff games as the Amerks advanced to the North Division finals against Laval.
He became a full-time NHL player in 2022-23 under coach Don Granato, with 12 goals and 20 assists in 77 games. His breakout campaign was in 2023-24, when he had 28 goals and 22 assists and improved his rating from minus-15 to plus-10.
Draft outlook
If they stay at No. 9, the Sabres have plenty of possibilities. The top 10 is heavy with choices at forward, but the Sabres' interviews at the NHL Scouting Combine included two intriguing defensemen:
Kashawn Aitcheson, a left-hander from Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League, combines toughness with a scoring touch (26 goals, 33 assists this season).
Right-hander Radim Mrtka from Seattle of the Western Hockey League came from Czechia and was a playmaker for the Thunderbirds, with three goals and 32 assists in 43 games.
If the Sabres go for a forward, the choice could be Victor Eklund, a right wing from Djurgardens in Sweden and the younger brother of San Jose forward William Eklund. Victor Eklund scored 19 goals with 12 assists in 42 games.
The Sabres had interest in William Eklund in 2021, but he was taken No. 7 by San Jose and the Sabres were unable to trade up to acquire him.
News Sports Reporter Mike Harrington contributed to this report.
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