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

[inkman]

I think Doan is going to play higher in the lineup than most of us predict.  For better or worse, what he brings the Sabres have an absolute dearth of.  Tenacious forechecker, solid D, net front presence.  
 

Tuch and Benson are the only guys on the roster that resemble it even a little.  Put Doan in the top 6, watch the wins unfold right before our eyes.  Or something like that. 

[dudacek]

In his interview with John Scott, Connor Clifton more or less confirmed that Peterka:

Did not want to be in Buffalo and his teammates knew it. The implication to me was city, not team, but that was not specified

Played hard when he felt like it.

He also said JJ was ridiculously talented and will tear up the league for years. The Sabres definitely did not want to trade him

Edited yesterday at 02:59 AM by dudacek

[Dr. Who]

On 7/14/2025 at 11:54 AM, inkman said:

I think Doan is going to play higher in the lineup than most of us predict.  For better or worse, what he brings the Sabres have an absolute dearth of.  Tenacious forechecker, solid D, net front presence.  
 

Tuch and Benson are the only guys on the roster that resemble it even a little.  Put Doan in the top 6, watch the wins unfold right before our eyes.  Or something like that. 

I pray this optimistic forecast is true. Doan will have to come close to it in order for the trade to be potentially balanced. It is correct that he brings a skill set that is sadly lacking.

[Thorny]

On 7/12/2025 at 3:43 PM, Brawndo said:

 

What’s weak sauce is this organization not demonstrating that it is serious about winning.  The fact that GMKA is entering his sixth season despite the regression and failure to make the playoffs, coupled with the fact that  Wilford, Bales and Ellis are entering their fifth seasons.  Competent organizations make changes to their coaching staffs all the time, Colorado hired Dave Hasktol earlier this week. Sabres Fans cannot even receive that simple change. 

 

Wilford is a symptom of a much larger problem that starts with the owner. The reason I singled out Wilford is there was a candidate they reached out to about replacing him with who ultimately turned them down. This is another serious concern about the organization they seemingly focus on one potential solution, if that doesn’t work they do not pivot. The organization feels there is an opportunity to improve, but decides to stay with the status quo after the only candidate turns them down. 
 

Could you imagine Power in a competent defense system with numbers he is putting up? 

Very well said 

On 7/12/2025 at 4:50 PM, K-9 said:

All this talk about “games played”, while important, when it comes to such young players, physical maturity is just as critical in a player’s development. Power isn’t at his physical peak, is yet to acquire his “man strength”, and most likely has a few more years to go before reaching it. That’s why I think we would regret jettisoning him in a few years. We can say that about a few other players on the team as well. Get him a dependable partner who can handle the more physical demands of the position and let him play to his strengths as he matures.

He’s gonna be a good one 

[Taro T]

23 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Very well said 

He’s gonna be a good one 

He very likely is.  The issue becomes will he get there before the "big 3" have decided they want out.  Realizing 2 of them are locked up for as long as Power and Norris are.  But they have to show them that the team is serious about winning to make sure that what has been 14 years of a bad situation sets up to be at least 3 more years of really bad situations.

It's flat out astounding just how bad that S&C coach was to have singlehandedly caused them to just miss the playoffs 3 seasons ago and regress each of the last 2 years.  Htf did he keep his job THAT long?

Thankfully the issue was identified and corrected so we can now watch them march forward back into the NHL.  And we will finally be closer to seeing the Sabres not only roll out their own Pronger / Niedermayer but perhaps, and we can only dare to hope, their own Savard, Robinson, Lapointe.

[Brawndo]

Looks like Power received another partner this offseason 

[Weave]

If she isn’t standing on a box, their kids will be massive human beings.

[inkman]

56 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Looks like Power received another partner this offseason 

Nothing will incite uncontrollable rage like being married.  Maybe this is the year Owen gets that ballyhooed mean streak that fans have been clamoring for. 

[Doohickie]

14 minutes ago, inkman said:

Nothing will incite uncontrollable rage like being married.

Umm.  Maybe you're doing it wrong?

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Looks like Power received another partner this offseason 

95th percentile height

20th percentile weight

If she were a guy, she'd be a Sabre.  😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good for him.  Wish them well.

[SabreFinn]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Looks like Power received another partner this offseason 

Kesselring??

[inkman]

40 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Umm.  Maybe you're doing it wrong?

I love being married so much I did it twice 

[LGR4GM]

On 7/14/2025 at 11:54 AM, inkman said:

I think Doan is going to play higher in the lineup than most of us predict.  For better or worse, what he brings the Sabres have an absolute dearth of.  Tenacious forechecker, solid D, net front presence.  
 

Tuch and Benson are the only guys on the roster that resemble it even a little.  Put Doan in the top 6, watch the wins unfold right before our eyes.  Or something like that. 

Id like to see a line of Benson - McLeod - Doan for a bit. 

[shrader]

10 hours ago, dudacek said:

In his interview with John Scott, Connor Clifton more or less confirmed that Peterka:

Did not want to be in Buffalo and his teammates knew it. The implication to me was city, not team, but that was not specified

Played hard when he felt like it.

He also said JJ was ridiculously talented and will tear up the league for years. The Sabres definitely did not want to trade him

So how is Salt Lake City anyway?  I've been in the airport, but that's it.

[JP51]

On 7/14/2025 at 11:54 AM, inkman said:

I think Doan is going to play higher in the lineup than most of us predict.  For better or worse, what he brings the Sabres have an absolute dearth of.  Tenacious forechecker, solid D, net front presence.  
 

Tuch and Benson are the only guys on the roster that resemble it even a little.  Put Doan in the top 6, watch the wins unfold right before our eyes.  Or something like that. 

and you hope that somebody (players)  will hold the others accountable for playing that way... especially if Lindy actually has options to go too that say I want you to play this way you arent so these guys are getting the ice time...  hard to do when you literally have no one to point to and put out there... if there is improvement it will be because the mix of players is more conducive to two way grittier hockey and better defense. 

Edited 14 hours ago by JP51

[dudacek]

48 minutes ago, shrader said:

So how is Salt Lake City anyway?  I've been in the airport, but that's it.

There’s an evil part of me that wants the Sabres to be cutthroat enough that this played a role

[shrader]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

There’s an evil part of me that wants the Sabres to be cutthroat enough that this played a role

But he did choose to sign that multi-year contract there.

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, shrader said:

But he did choose to sign that multi-year contract there.

He liked Buffalo too before he lived there 😈

[shrader]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

He liked Buffalo too before he lived there 😈

I guess there should be a level of naivety there.  He played there last season, but they had another game in Minnesota two days later, so they were out of there right away.  He didn't have any time to experience it.

[K-9]

26 minutes ago, shrader said:

But he did choose to sign that multi-year contract there.

I think Utah reminds JJ of the Bavarian alps of home. He can sing ‘Edelweiss’ and frolic in his lederhosen all along the Wasatch range.

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

I think Utah reminds JJ of the Bavarian alps of home. He can sing ‘Edelweiss’ and frolic in his lederhosen all along the Wasatch range.

[ska-T Palmtown]

Two things: First - yeah, Salt Lake City is not exactly an upgrade on Buffalo, unless he is looking for mountains.

Second: My 5 pages of JJP hockey cards really hope he tears it up out there!

[LTS]

12 hours ago, shrader said:

So how is Salt Lake City anyway?  I've been in the airport, but that's it.

Not sure sure about SLC as I was immediately driving out of it to Provo, but the airport is nice.  They have street pricing there which means all the stores use the same prices as they do at their normal street restaurants.. thought that was cool.  

3 hours ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

Two things: First - yeah, Salt Lake City is not exactly an upgrade on Buffalo, unless he is looking for mountains.

Second: My 5 pages of JJP hockey cards really hope he tears it up out there!

Well, if you live outside SLC there are some really nice areas and the mountains are really nice.

Not sure if it's not an upgrade.. it's missing football but it has basketball.. and the Olympics are going to be there again in 2034. 

[JoeSchmoe]

12 hours ago, shrader said:

So how is Salt Lake City anyway?  I've been in the airport, but that's it.

I've been snowboarding in Salt Lake many times, though I haven't been since COVID. Strictly from a snowboarding perspective, it's the best spot I've ever been to as the snow and terrain might be the best in the world. Apparently crowds have since gotten bad as the Utah puritan reputation has somewhat worn off. Snowboarding won't matter to JJ though since it would void his contract.

I know a guy who played a season there for the Grizzlies 25 years ago. His attitude towards the off the ice stuff was much like JJ (he said he liked to play "guilty"). Said the clubs weren't very good, and many of the local girls were off limits. He also said alcohol was more taboo than other harder substances which made interacting even weirder. He did really like training in the mountains though and liked the restaurant scene.

Obviously, things have become much more liberal and the Mormon % has dropped in the last 25 years. I can personally say I've been very much over served in the beehive state (very, very much)... much to the regret of my next day on the mountain. Still, I'd far take Buffalo nightlife over SLC. Maybe JJ will get in with some $$$ crowd over in Park City, but I'm thinking he'd be far younger than the clientele there.

Edited 1 hour ago by JoeSchmoe