By Gabriel Foley |
at June 26, 2026 5:41 pm
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. The deal is headed for the finish line, per Friedman, and will represent a major draft-day upgrade for the Bruins’ top-six. Boston will be sending multiple first round picks back to Utah per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. Specifically, Utah will acquire Boston’s 2026 first-round pick – 23rd overall – and their 2028 first-round pick per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
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.
Boston could represent exactly that. The Bruins offense is in a state of flux after a stellar shooting performance from winger Morgan Geekie and the debut of top prospect James Hagens. Boston is also considering new deals for veteran winger Viktor Arvidsson and restricted free agent Marat Khusnutdinov. With the addition of Peterka, Boston could round out their top-nine with three lines of reliable performers. Peterka could even win the race for a spot next to star scorer David Pastrnak – who split time across from Khusnutdinov, Geekie, and Fraser Minten throughout the year. Pastrnak reached 100 points for the fourth-consecutive season this year and would be a sure bet to return at least some of Peterka’s playmaking.
