The Buffalo Sabres and the Utah Mammoth are on the verge of completing a trade involving forward JJ Peterka, according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. Although the trade has already been agreed upon by both sides, there are apparently some factors in play before it gets official.

“Breaking: Sources say #Sabres have agreed in principle to trade forward JJ Peterka to @utahmammoth. BUT there is apparently a contingency holding up deal. If completed, and still a big if, would be a big get for #TusksUp adding another 23-year-old top line forward to the mix,” Seravalli shared in a post on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday night.

The complete details of the pending trade were added later by Seravalli, with Peterka getting an extension deal from Utah in the process, while the Sabres get Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan.

Peterka is a young talent with a still big ceiling in the pros. He has gradually improved his play in the NHL over the last three seasons. In the 2022-23 campaign, Peterka had 12 goals and 20 points for 32 points. The following season, he racked up 28 points and 22 assists for a total of 50 points.

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In what seems like his final season in Buffalo uniform, Peterka, who is just 23 years old, found the back of the net 27 times while recording 41 assists. His 68 points in the 2024-25 season were the second most among Sabres players, with only Tage Thompson (72 points) having more. Peterka is a pending restricted free agent who had a cap hit of $855,833 in the last season.

Should Peterka's trade to Utah push through, the Mammoth will get an exciting attacker, who is on the 76th percentile of EV Offence based on a three-year weighted average data, per hockey analytics expert JFresh. However, as his JFresh card indicates, Peterka still has work to do on his defense, placing just in the fourth percentile of EV defence.

Now carrying the Mammoth moniker after going with the Hockey Club label in its inaugural NHL season, Utah went 38-31-13 for 89 points in the 2024-25 campaign. That was good for just sixth in the Central division and not enough for Utah to make the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Utah was just 20th in the league with an average of 2.93 goals per game, so that's an area where Peterka's skills can play a big part in improving it.