Sabres Trade JJ Peterka to Utah for Defenseman Michael Kesselring and Forward Josh Doan

[jad1]

10 hours ago, sabremike said:

You are aware last season was his first as their owner right?

So what.  He kept Armstrong, right?  Armstong's record of failure for making the playoffs is second only to Adams.

If Pegula sold the Sabres and the new owner kept Kevyn Adams as GM, would you think the new owner is good? 

 

[Pimlach]

Peterka Quotes: 

He wants to be part of a young core, apparently just not in Buffalo.  

“When you look at the roster, how many young players are there who are already so good. I think, just like timeline-wise for me, it’s going to be a perfect fit. Growing together with those guys and hopefully winning a lot of games,” Peterka said. “I think the team has a lot of skill. The speed they play with got me most excited. How quick they move the puck, and that they have some serious players that can make a lot of good plays. That was pretty cool to watch.”

He is training hard in the off season, not sure if he was in Buffalo.  

“I think there’s still a lot left. That’s why I have to work hard every day,” Peterka said. “I told them I’m going to work my ass off in the offseason.”

He is excited to play for a coach that demands a two way game, apparently just not Lindy Ruff who also demanded a two-way game. 

 “I talked to Quinn, actually, a lot about [Tourigny],” Peterka said. “He really liked him as a coach and as a person. He said he’s a hard coach but a really good coach. That got me really excited.”  

What went wrong in Buffalo (the losing aside)?   He probably does not see a commitment to win from management.     

“I think that just shows how committed I am to Utah, how excited I am. And how much I believe in that group, what they’ve got going and what they’re building there,” Peterka said. “That’s why I decided to do that. Super excited now to meet all the guys and get things going.”   

 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Peterka Quotes: 

He wants to be part of a young core, apparently just not in Buffalo.  

“When you look at the roster, how many young players are there who are already so good. I think, just like timeline-wise for me, it’s going to be a perfect fit. Growing together with those guys and hopefully winning a lot of games,” Peterka said. “I think the team has a lot of skill. The speed they play with got me most excited. How quick they move the puck, and that they have some serious players that can make a lot of good plays. That was pretty cool to watch.”

He is training hard in the off season, not sure if he was in Buffalo.  

“I think there’s still a lot left. That’s why I have to work hard every day,” Peterka said. “I told them I’m going to work my ass off in the offseason.”

He is excited to play for a coach that demands a two way game, apparently just not Lindy Ruff who also demanded a two-way game. 

 “I talked to Quinn, actually, a lot about [Tourigny],” Peterka said. “He really liked him as a coach and as a person. He said he’s a hard coach but a really good coach. That got me really excited.”  

What went wrong in Buffalo (the losing aside)?   He probably does not see a commitment to win from management.     

“I think that just shows how committed I am to Utah, how excited I am. And how much I believe in that group, what they’ve got going and what they’re building there,” Peterka said. “That’s why I decided to do that. Super excited now to meet all the guys and get things going.”   

 

 

So he didn't like the losing culture to which he contributed to.

[K-9]

16 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Peterka Quotes: 

He wants to be part of a young core, apparently just not in Buffalo.  

“When you look at the roster, how many young players are there who are already so good. I think, just like timeline-wise for me, it’s going to be a perfect fit. Growing together with those guys and hopefully winning a lot of games,” Peterka said. “I think the team has a lot of skill. The speed they play with got me most excited. How quick they move the puck, and that they have some serious players that can make a lot of good plays. That was pretty cool to watch.”

He is training hard in the off season, not sure if he was in Buffalo.  

“I think there’s still a lot left. That’s why I have to work hard every day,” Peterka said. “I told them I’m going to work my ass off in the offseason.”

He is excited to play for a coach that demands a two way game, apparently just not Lindy Ruff who also demanded a two-way game. 

 “I talked to Quinn, actually, a lot about [Tourigny],” Peterka said. “He really liked him as a coach and as a person. He said he’s a hard coach but a really good coach. That got me really excited.”  

What went wrong in Buffalo (the losing aside)?   He probably does not see a commitment to win from management.     

“I think that just shows how committed I am to Utah, how excited I am. And how much I believe in that group, what they’ve got going and what they’re building there,” Peterka said. “That’s why I decided to do that. Super excited now to meet all the guys and get things going.”   

 

With his speed, Peterka should be able to develop a good two-way game but defense, regardless of the sport being played, starts with burning desire and effort, so JJ needs to grow up a bit in that regard imo. 

[French Collection]

Just now, K-9 said:

With his speed, Peterka should be able to develop a good two-way game but defense, regardless of the sport being played, starts with burning desire and effort, so JJ needs to grow up a bit in that regard imo. 

You’re right, defense is a mindset of hard work and second effort to do the right things and to be in the proper locations. The creativity of offense is exciting and more fun to practice but the discipline required to defend is not as appealing and doesn’t pay as well.

[Brawndo]

On 7/4/2025 at 3:03 PM, jad1 said:

Utah has made the playoffs once over the last 10 years (2020).

Compared to the Sabres though, I guess that is an improvement.

 

 

On 7/4/2025 at 5:04 PM, jad1 said:

I'm going to choose neither.

 

 

 

On 7/5/2025 at 8:13 AM, JohnC said:

Ryan Smith by far. He's not the same owner who created a lot of commotion in Arizona. 

Alex Meruelo was the league’s worst owner. 
 

Ryan Smith  probably thought it was a good idea to keep as much of the Hockey Operations Department intact based on the fact the sale and move of the franchise happening as quickly as it did, coupled with the fact Smith had zero experience with the NHL. 
 

Smith did give Armstrong permission to spend last offseason and the team did have a 12 point improvement in standings ultimately missing by 8 points compared to 21 the season before 

Bill Armstrong Team’s have showed improvement every season over the past three seasons, unlike the Sabres who have regressed in the standings since missing the playoffs by two points 

Edited 5 hours ago by Brawndo

[shrader]

13 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

Alex Meruelo was the league’s worst owner. 
 

Ryan Smith  probably thought it was a good idea to keep as much of the Hockey Operations Department intact based on the fact the sale and move of the franchise happening as quickly as it did, coupled with the fact Smith had zero experience with the NHL. 
 

Smith did give Armstrong permission to spend last offseason and the team did have a 12 point improvement in standings ultimately missing by 8 points compared to 21 the season before 

Bill Armstrong Team’s have showed improvement every season over the past three seasons, unlike the Sabres who have regressed in the standings since missing the playoffs by two points 

It will be a good experiment to put the owner effect on display. 

[JohnC]

55 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

Alex Meruelo was the league’s worst owner. 
 

Ryan Smith  probably thought it was a good idea to keep as much of the Hockey Operations Department intact based on the fact the sale and move of the franchise happening as quickly as it did, coupled with the fact Smith had zero experience with the NHL. 
 

Smith did give Armstrong permission to spend last offseason and the team did have a 12 point improvement in standings ultimately missing by 8 points compared to 21 the season before 

Bill Armstrong Team’s have showed improvement every season over the past three seasons, unlike the Sabres who have regressed in the standings since missing the playoffs by two points 

The dichotomy between the two owners is obvious. The new owner is committed to winning by building a quality organization while the other silent owner has created a third- rate organization that allows him to play with his toy franchise. 
 

The big boat owning owner has bought a franchise and degraded it to the point that it is now a scorned and mocked franchise. In comparison, the new owner has demonstrated a commitment to winning and providing his fan base a team that they would be proud of.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

It will be a good experiment to put the owner effect on display. 

The owner effect is already known. In one year, the new owner trampled the long- serving owner. 

Edited 3 hours ago by JohnC

[LGR4GM]

Yea... someone reminds me again what Pegula built in his 1st couple years as owner?

Pegula used to care is my point. 

[PromoTheRobot]

47 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The dichotomy between the two owners is obvious. The new owner is committed to winning by building a quality organization while the other silent owner has created a third- rate organization that allows him to play with his toy franchise. 
 

The big boat owning owner has bought a franchise and degraded it to the point that it is now a scorned and mocked franchise. In comparison, the new owner has demonstrated a commitment to winning and providing his fan base a team that they would be proud of.

Utah won the off-season.

[JohnC]

16 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Utah won the off-season.

Their owner is not dopey enough to hire an ill-equipped person to be his GM . And the new owner would not be dopey enough to retain a GM with such a middling 5 year record. Ownership matters!

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Yea... someone reminds me again what Pegula built in his 1st couple years as owner?

Pegula used to care is my point. 

A very small part of me (but growing) doesn't want Pegula to be eventually 'rewarded' with a good team (through dumb luck) with how he has chosen to run things the last 10 or so years.

He's penny pinching on the roster/cap. He's penny pinching on scouting and the front office. He is only investing into the Arena what is really necessary at this point. He has drastically cut back on any investment in training facilities.

He went from being all about winning/creating 'hockey heaven' to being an old guy checking his change purse every day regarding the Sabres.

Edited 2 hours ago by mjd1001

[PerreaultForever]

On 7/5/2025 at 9:55 AM, PromoTheRobot said:

 

So he didn't like the losing culture to which he contributed to.

It's funny how everybody says that about everybody who leaves and yet they keep leaving. 

The team is NOT committed to winning and it shows. That's the difference. Utah at least appears like it will do everything it can to get better. When have we felt that way about the Sabres? Players know this. 

[JohnC]

Just now, mjd1001 said:

A very small part of me, VERY small, but it is there, almost wants to see the Sabres continue to do poortly because of how Pegula runs them.  No, overall of course I want them to do well, but, at least to me, its painfully obvious that many/most of the mistakes made over the past decade start at the top with Pegula.  

So overall I want the team to do well, I don't want him to be 'rewarded' with a good team with how he has chosen to run things the last 10 or so years.

If he continues to run the franchise in the same manner that he has already run it during his tenure, then the franchise will continue to sputter along. So far this off-season I haven’t seen any urgency or appreciable difference in how he has been operating. I find his casual behavior to be odd.

[PromoTheRobot]

26 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Their owner is not dopey enough to hire an ill-equipped person to be his GM . And the new owner would not be dopey enough to retain a GM with such a middling 5 year record. Ownership matters!

I agree they're doing things right. But let them make the playoffs first.

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I agree they're doing things right. But let them make the playoffs first.

When the new owner took over he didn’t have a high end roster. He’s doing things the right way to have a successful franchise. Compare that to Terry P. who has presided over a flailing franchise for a full generation? The Utah operation under their new owner is already so much more professionally run than the Sabre franchise is under the ownership of Terry P. 

[shrader]

30 minutes ago, JohnC said:

When the new owner took over he didn’t have a high end roster. He’s doing things the right way to have a successful franchise. Compare that to Terry P. who has presided over a flailing franchise for a full generation? The Utah operation under their new owner is already so much more professionally run than the Sabre franchise is under the ownership of Terry P. 

Pegula came in guns blazing when he took over too. Unfortunately he was stuck buying out the second tier guys after the top would be agents chose to either stay home or go somewhere else. He spent on the likes of Leino, Ehrhoff, and Okposo. He tried, but he got the wrong people. Then something changed along the way and the purse strings tightened. 
 

Only time will tell if Utah is heading on the right path. 

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, shrader said:

Pegula came in guns blazing when he took over too. Unfortunately he was stuck buying out the second tier guys after the top would be agents chose to either stay home or go somewhere else. He spent on the likes of Leino, Ehrhoff, and Okposo. He tried, but he got the wrong people. Then something changed along the way and the purse strings tightened. 
 

Only time will tell if Utah is heading on the right path. 

When he spent money, he did it foolishly. And when he didn't spend money, he foolishly didn't spend. He's run a mistake riddled operation because he has run a mistake riddled operation. The onus is on him. The franchise is a failure because he is a failure. He's a self-sabotaging stubborn man. I'm so tired of him. 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

Pegula came in guns blazing when he took over too. Unfortunately he was stuck buying out the second tier guys after the top would be agents chose to either stay home or go somewhere else. He spent on the likes of Leino, Ehrhoff, and Okposo. He tried, but he got the wrong people. Then something changed along the way and the purse strings tightened. 
 

Only time will tell if Utah is heading on the right path. 

He bought the Bills. They got really good. He's building a stadium for the Bills.

That's what changed impo.

[FrenchConnection44]

Really liked this breakdown. May have been posted here already but I’m too lazy to go through every page. Based on this— I am happy with what we did in this trade. Gotta convince these guys to stay. 
 

Gotta have better coaching. And gotta have better physical training. Which, allegedly, we do now. Let’s hope so. But get our guys in better shape. Add strength and muscle. And endurance. And perhaps we will improve.