JJ Peterka‘s future with the Sabres is at crunch time. Hailed as a piece of the young core, the Sabres need to move on or make it reality. Peterka is a pending restricted free agent left winger. It seems obvious what the Sabres should do, but we’ll dive into some scenarios where he isn’t with the Sabres in October.
JJ Peterka’s History
The Sabres moved up in the draft in the second round of the 2020 draft to make a selection. That selection was a 18 year old forward out of Germany playing for EHC Red Bull München in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Subsequently, the young man rewarded the Sabres with a 68 point season for the Rochester Americans (AHL) in 2021-2022. Drawing buzz and excitement with his impressive rookie performance, the Sabres were eager to throw him into the lineup.
Peterka has played all three seasons since then. Playing in at least 77, 82, and 77 games in those three seasons, he has proven to be a reliable player who can stay in the lineup. Peterka hasn’t seen minutes in the American Hockey League since 2021-2022, and, most likely, won’t ever again.
Here’s the stats for Peterka’s three full seasons in the NHL:
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2022–23: 77 GP – 12 G – 20 A – 32 PTS
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2023–24: 82GP – 28 G – 22 A – 50 PTS
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2024–25: 77GP – 27G – 41A – 68PTS
Continual growth over three seasons. A fringe 70 point player at 23 years old. The Sabres might regret not extending the young man last season. But also signing a 22 year old to a long term deal would have also been very risky. But when considering Peterka’s future, the Sabres have to keep in mind that they have a player entering his prime who can put up 60 points at least.
JJ Peterka’s Present
Kevyn Adams has talked many times about believing Peterka will be a Sabre moving forward. Going as far as publicly denying rumours about Peterka potentially being dealt at the deadline. Frank Seravalli initially reported the rumours during the season, and has listed him as the top trade target for teams this summer. It seems likely teams would want to add JJ Peterka to their rosters. But it doesn’t seem like Kevyn Adams will want to move on from one of his first draft picks he made as Sabres General Manager.
Now we sit in Limbo. The winger who played preseasons in his home country to start the season ended the season without a new contract. July 1st is the date to look out for. Sabres fans should be hoping a deal gets done to lock up this promising player. He has played in all top scoring scenarios for the Sabres. He found himself playing with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch on the top line for a majority of the season. And he did not look out of place. With 18 points on the powerplay as well, he can provide on the top unit for the Sabres. JJ Peterka’s future looks very promising, regardless is it’s with or without the Sabres.
Unbelievable scenes with JJ Peterka in Germany ??
(via @BuffaloSabres) pic.twitter.com/mlC19BC030
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 27, 2024
JJ Peterka’s Future
One of three things will happen with Peterka: he will be given a new contract, traded, or offer sheeted. Here’s what we think will most likely happen in order from least to most likely.
Offer Sheeted
The Sabres have a monster offseason ahead of them. Many guys need extensions that will eat up a lot of the existing cap space. But an offer sheet just does not seem probable for the Sabres. It would take a big swing from another team to pull him away. Last years offer sheets saw Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway get much bigger contracts from the St. Louis Blues than Edmonton could attempt to match.
As far as draft compensation goes, that’s not what the Sabres need right now. It would likely take a team offering close to $8-$9 million Average Annual Value to for the Sabres to not match that offer. They would receive at least a first round pick, if not two if the offer was high enough, among other picks. The Sabres need to win now, it has been 14 years of no playoffs. A first round pick is not as valuable to them as it used to be just a few seasons ago.
Traded
Despite it feeling like the Sabres will keep Peterka, if he does leave, it will most likely be via a trade. Kevyn Adams has publicly denied rumours of trades with Peterka in the past, and it doesn’t seem like anything on that has changed. Kevyn Adams hasn’t done a wonderful job as GM for the Sabres, going into year six. However, if he knew Peterka wasn’t going to be a Sabre in the future, he’d make sure to get genuine NHL players, or at least further along prospects for him, rather than picks.
If he is traded, it seems likely it would be for defensive help, rather than young forwards. The Sabres scored a lot of goals last season, the problem was they couldn’t keep it out of their net. A trad involving Peterka would feasibly centre around a stud defenceman, amongst other small pieces.
New Contract
An new contract between JJ Peterka and the Buffalo Sabres makes perfect sense from both a team-building and financial standpoint. Peterka has emerged as one of the most dynamic young wingers in the organization, combining speed, creativity, and a growing scoring touch. He fits perfectly into the Sabres’ youth-driven core alongside players like Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. By extending Peterka now, before he potentially breaks out even further, the Sabres can secure long-term value and cost certainty.
From Peterka’s perspective, staying with the Sabres offers stability and a top-six role. Locking him up on a multi-year deal would signal reward internal development, and guard against a rising market price. It’s a win-win move that strengthens the Sabres’ rebuild trajectory and reinforces their identity as a team growing together, not just chasing pieces in free agency.
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