One of the more intriguing what-ifs from Utah’s offseason centers on JJ Peterka, and whether the Mammoth would have looked any different last season if they had never made that swing in the first place.
Probably not much.
Utah went after Peterka last offseason because the fit made sense on paper. He was 23, coming off a season in Buffalo with 27 goals and 68 assists, and the Mammoth clearly believed they were getting a player who could grow into a 30-goal, 70-point type of threat.
Utah needed more scoring in the 2024-25 season, so the move checked a lot of boxes. The Sabres, unable to keep the restricted free agent, moved him without asking for too much in return.
Utah sent Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring to Buffalo, though Kesselring only appeared in 34 games before leaving Buffalo this offseason.
The real twist is that Doan wound up making the deal sting. The 24-year-old produced 27 goals and 52 points, which means he gave Utah just a bit more offense than Peterka did.
That’s where the trade turns sour for the Mammoth: Peterka came with a $7.7 million AAV, while Doan was delivering similar production at the same age. Utah took the loss there, plain and simple, because Peterka underwhelmed and Doan exceeded expectations.
Still, this is not a move Utah has to sit around and hate.
The Mammoth didn’t need Peterka after last season because their scoring took a big jump, and they were never eager to carry that kind of AAV anyway. That’s part of why they turned him into a trade with the Boston Bruins for two first-round selections.
The 23rd overall pick in the 2026 NHL draft was then used to help bring in goalie Sebastian Cossa, a prospect Utah badly needed. On top of that, the Mammoth used the remaining AAV space to trade for a superstar and sign a veteran star.
So yes, Utah likely would have preferred not to give up a young player like Doan. But even with that regret, the Peterka move still helped them land the kind of return they wanted.
And if the question is whether not trading for Peterka would have dramatically altered Utah’s fate last season, the answer seems to be no. The bigger difference might have been avoiding the $7.7 million AAV in the first place.
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