Mammoth Acquire, Extend J.J. Peterka
The Buffalo Sabres are reportedly close to finalizing a deal that would send winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for forward prospect Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It’s been further announced that Peterka has agreed to a five-year, $38.5MM extension with the Mammoth, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. The Mammoth later confirmed the trade and signing. It’s a late-night blockbuster, and a rare three-player swap with no additions.
Utah has now completed the franchise’s biggest trade under its new moniker. In Peterka, the Mammoth have acquired a consistent goal-scorer they can plug into their top six without having to part with too many quality assets. Kesselring and Doan filled important needs for the team last season, but they didn’t replicate what Peterka can bring to their offense.
The German-born winger was selected by the Sabres as the 34th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, coming from EHC München in the DEL. A year later, after scoring nine goals and 20 points in 30 DEL contests and 10 points in only five World Junior Championship games, the Sabres knew that it wouldn’t be long before Peterka debuted in North America.
He did just that the following season. Primarily playing for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, Peterka gave an impressive rookie performance, scoring 28 goals and 68 points in 70 games. Despite being named to the All-Rookie Team and finishing 10th in AHL scoring, Peterka lost out on the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as the league’s most outstanding rookie to teammate Jack Quinn. 
Despite playing in two games during the 2021-22 campaign, Peterka made the full transition to NHL hockey in 2022-23 and never looked back. Being a capable tertiary scorer during the 2022-23 campaign with limited ice time, Peterka became a full-fledged top-six winger the last two seasons, scoring 55 goals and 118 points in 159 games played.
Peterka has some defensive shortcomings to work on, which is to be expected of any young winger. Still, he brings a wealth of offensive capabilities and possession quality to plug into a similarly styled offense in Salt Lake City. Peterka will join the likes of Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, and Barrett Hayton and the Mammoth’s top-six, with every player falling under the age of 30.
Meanwhile, Buffalo adds a young, right-handed defenseman whom they’ve been coveting for some time. The team was oversaturated on the left side last season, with all four of the team’s highest-paid blue liners shooting from the left. Even at 25 years old, Kesselring has already proven to be a capable puck-moving defenseman who can hold his own in the defensive zone.
It’s hard to imagine the Mammoth thought Kesselring would become the player he is. The Arizona Coyotes acquired Kesselring from the Edmonton Oilers in 2023 as part of the Nick Bjugstad trade, whom they later re-signed the following offseason. They quickly assigned him to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.
Since then, Kesselring has scored 12 goals and 50 points in 147 NHL contests, jumping into a top-four role with the formerly named Utah Hockey Club last season. The scoring totals may not stand out, but his possession and defensive metrics are impressive. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 53.7% CorsiFor% at even strength, and a on-ice save percentage of 92.2%. His positive possession quality should help the Sabres dramatically, as they finished the 2024-25 campaign as the league’s 17th-best possession team.
Lastly, Doan, the son of former Coyotes icon Shane Doan, comes to the Sabres organization without having made his mark on the NHL level. The former 37th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft has been a productive AHL scorer since his draft year, accumulating 40 goals and 78 points in 104 games.
Still, that talent hasn’t yet translated to the NHL level, and much of that can be explained by a lack of ice time. Doan finished the 2024-25 campaign with seven goals and 21 points in 51 games, averaging 13:31 seconds of ice time in a third-line role. Unfortunately, given the talent that the Sabres have on the wing in their top-six, Doan is likely destined for the same role in New York.
PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed significantly to this article.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.
Free Agent Focus: Utah Mammoth
Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Mammoth.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Jack McBain – The sole season of the Utah Hockey Club’s existence will go down in NHL history – and near the top of the list of cult players will be Jack McBain. He continued to fill the important, impactful role in Utah’s bottom-six that he’s become known for over the last four seasons, but managed the best results yet. McBain scored a career-high 13 goals and 27 points while appearing in all 82 games of the season this year. The performance just narrowly usurps his 26 points career-high from each of the last two seasons. He also set a career-high in penalty minutes (78) and matched his personal-best plus-eight. McBain is only four seasons, and 241 games, into his NHL career – but it’s so far been marked by imposing, physical play and few costly mistakes. He’s likely on his way to earning a commendable deal, and stamping his place in the early days of Utah’s franchise, with a new contract this summer.
F Kailer Yamamoto – Utah’s only other RFA to play in NHL games this season is winger Kailer Yamamoto. He joined the Hockey Club on a one-year, two-way, league-minimum contract last summer, and earned an AHL assignment just a few weeks into the regular season. He went on to play in his first AHL games since the 2019-20 season and performed brilliantly. All of Yamamoto’s quick pace and jerky dekes translated to the minor flight. He led the Tucson Roadrunners in scoring for much of the season, and finished the year with 20 goals and 56 points in 54 games. That strong scoring earned Yamamoto 12 total appearances in the NHL before the year’s end, though he was only able to muster two goals and three points in those games. After a 2017 first-round selection, and years of questions, it seems Yamamoto’s style is set. He’s a dazzling minor-league scorer, who struggles to carry his flash to the top flight. A new contract should reward him as such, though Yamamoto is still a great asset to have in the pipeline.
Other RFA: D Montana Onyebuchi
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Nick Bjugstad – The 2023-24 season was the first of Bjugstad’s tenure in the Arizona, or Utah, pipeline – and it was marked by an incredible return to productivity. He scored 22 goals and 45 points in 76 games – the most he had scored since he potted 49 points in the 2017-18 season. It was an impressive performance that earned Bjugstad routine run with Utah’s second-line. But he fell back to Earth this year, and finished the season with just 19 points and 12 minutes of average ice time through 66 appearances. At a glance, it seems the curtains are beginning to close on Bjugstad’s fantastic, 12-year career through the NHL. But his veteran presence and potential to catch a scoring groove will still be coveted. Even 30 points would be enough to make him a worthwhile addition. Utah’s optimism that he can reach that mark will likely define whether he ends his career as a Mammoth, or with another move.
F Michael Carcone – Carcone played through his second full-time role in the NHL this season. He’s worked his way up through eight seasons in the minor leagues, where his hard-nosed presence and ability to drive a line was consistently challenged and proven. He’s carried those traits onto Utah’s fourth-line over the last two seasons. He scored 21 goals and 29 points in 74 games of last season, and a much more manageable seven goals and 19 points in 53 games this year. Those numbers don’t jump off the page – but they do equate to a yearly average of 18 goals and 31 points per season, when adjusted to a full 82-game pace. That’s a much more commendable mark, and there’s a good possibility that it earns Carcone a return to Utah’s fourth-line with a minimal-cost contract next season.
F Egor Sokolov – Sokolov will enter free agency as a Group 6 UFA this summer, earning the right to unrestricted negotiations after only appearing in 13 NHL games over the last four seasons. Every one of those appearances came in an Ottawa Senators jersey, and Sokolov only managed one goal and one assist to show for it. But he’s found a strong groove in the minors over the last two seasons – netting 46 goals in 71 games with the AHL’s Belleville Senators last year, and 44 points in 72 games with Tucson this year. He looked controlled and aggressive for mcuh of the year, but was also consistently planted as Tucson faced barrages from opponents. He’s in desperate need for a more defense-oriented style. At only 25 years old, he could still add those components in. If he does, he’ll have the size and scoring consistency to push for a hardy NHL role. That fact could make him worth locking up on a cheap, multi-year deal before July 1st.
D Robert Bortuzzo – While Bjugstad eyes retirement on the horizon, Bortuzzo could come face-to-face with it this summer. To say his role in Utah was minimal may be an understatement. He appeared in just 17 games on the season, and averaged fewer than 11 minutes of ice time. His absences were generally the result of a lower-body injury that held him out for all but two games after December 11th. But his on-ice impact is slowing down as well, and it seems Bortuzzo could soon be pushed to end his career at 577 games played, 76 points scored, and one Stanley Cup won. If he’s convinced to play for one more year, it will be in the role of seventh-defender for a team in need for a feisty and physical depth piece.
Other UFAs: F Travis Barron, F Sammy Walker, F Cameron Hebig, D Patrik Koch
Projected Salary Cap
Utah has absolutely minimal to worry about as the summer approaches. McBain stands as the only must-sign option among their pending free-agents, and the rest of the lot could be had for a very miniscule total. That means they’ll be able to dedicate the vast majority of their $20.36MM in projected cap space towards building the roster up this summer. The Mammoth finished the season just eight points out of a playoff spot, and could find the pieces needed to regain ground with one or two exciting additions this summer.
Mammoth Unexpected To Retain Nick Bjugstad, Robert Bortuzzo
For the next few weeks, there will be plenty of speculation about which teams will add which players. However, most of the noise leading up to July 1st will be about which players’ teams won’t keep, and the Utah Mammoth reportedly has a few. According to Craig Morgan of The Sedona Conference, the Mammoth are likely to let forward Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo pursue other options this summer.
Given the more than $20MM available to the Mammoth this offseason, letting both players walk is more about performance and team-building rather than money. Bjugstad is inarguably the most valuable of the two, coming off an eight-goal, 19-point performance in 66 games for Utah during the 2024-25 campaign, averaging 12:19 of ice time. Still, it’s a far cry from his performance from a year ago, when Bjugstad registered 22 goals and 45 points in 76 games in a second-line role.
Meanwhile, there’s a legitimate chance that Bortuzzo is seriously contemplating retirement after completing the 14th season of his professional career. Limited by injuries this past season, Bortuzzo finished with two assists in 17 games, while mostly playing as the team’s seventh and sometimes eighth defenseman. The Mammoth already has eight defensemen signed through next season, leaving little room for Bortuzzo on the roster.
Utah Mammoth Interested In Stars' Mason Marchment
- After signing center Matt Duchene to a new four-year, $18MM contract earlier today, the Dallas Stars only have a projected $455K in salary cap space entering the offseason. Given this, the Stars are looking to move salary off the roster, and forward Mason Marchment has found his name in the center of the rumor mill. According to David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod, Dallas is receiving interest in Marchment’s services, particularly from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Utah Mammoth. Marchment already has some familiarity with the Maple Leafs, appearing in four games for the Original Six franchise during the 2019-20 season.
[SOURCE LINK]
- After signing center Matt Duchene to a new four-year, $18MM contract earlier today, the Dallas Stars only have a projected $455K in salary cap space entering the offseason. Given this, the Stars are looking to move salary off the roster, and forward Mason Marchment has found his name in the center of the rumor mill. According to David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod, Dallas is receiving interest in Marchment’s services, particularly from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Utah Mammoth. Marchment already has some familiarity with the Maple Leafs, appearing in four games for the Original Six franchise during the 2019-20 season.
Mammoth Tried To Get Hrabal To Turn Pro For Upcoming Season
- The Mammoth tried to sign goaltender Michael Hrabal after this season, his college head coach Greg Carvel stated in a recent Sick Podcast appearance (video link). The 20-year-old was the 38th overall pick back in 2023 and has spent the past two seasons at the University of Massachusetts. Hrabal posted a 2.37 GAA with a .924 SV% in 36 games for the Minutemen which seemingly was enough for Utah to want to turn him pro. Instead, Hrabal has decided to return for his junior year and seems like a strong candidate to sign after that.
Mammoth, Ben McCartney Agree To Two-Year, Two-Way Deal
The Mammoth have signed winger Ben McCartney to a two-year, two-way contract, per a team release. He was a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. He’ll earn the league minimum $775K salary if in the NHL for both seasons, but his minor-league salary wasn’t disclosed.
McCartney, 24 in July, gets some more runway to climb back up to the NHL after debuting way ahead of schedule for the Coyotes in 2021-22. A 2020 seventh-round pick by Arizona, he made a strong first impression upon arrival in AHL Tucson in 2021 and got his first call-up amid a rash of injuries early in the season. He recorded four shot attempts and seven hits in two games while averaging north of 14 minutes per night, but didn’t get on the scoresheet outside of a few penalty minutes. He’s stuck in the minors ever since, regressing offensively since his initial 18-17–35 showing in 57 games in 2021-22. After posting 0.61 points per game in that rookie season, he’s operated at 0.45 points per game over his last three seasons.
After battling some injuries during that time, McCartney showed more signs of life in 2024-25. The Manitoba native is now an alternate captain with the Roadrunners, where he returned after clearing waivers for the first time in his career back in October and posted a 16-17–33 scoring line in 63 games. He finished seventh on the team in scoring and fourth in PIMs (86) en route to his best offensive campaign since that rookie showing.
That isn’t enough to make him a legitimate candidate for a roster spot in the fall, but he may have at least earned a longer look in training camp to help push himself up Utah’s list of potential call-ups. If he doesn’t log 80 career NHL appearances by the time his deal is up in the summer of 2027, he’ll qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency. The Mammoth now have 40 of 50 possible standard contracts on their books for next season.
Egor Sokolov Linked To CSKA Moscow
Winger Egor Sokolov is set to be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer. After spending this season under contract with the Mammoth, it doesn’t appear he’ll return to the organization for 2025-26. Sokolov is expected to sign a contract with CKSA Moscow of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, according to Sport24.ru.
Utah acquired Sokolov’s signing rights in exchange for those of forward Jan Jeník in a trade with the Senators shortly after free agency opened last summer. A restricted free agent at the time, Sokolov put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way deal with the Mammoth days later that paid him a $190K minors salary.
Sokolov had hoped to get another NHL try in Salt Lake City after appearing in 13 games for Ottawa across the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. However, the 6’3″, 222-lb Russian cleared waivers and spent the entire season in the minors for the second straight year.
The 2020 second-round pick by the Sens played in all 72 games for Utah’s AHL affiliate in Tucson, finishing third on the team with a 22-22–44 scoring line but posting a club-worst -20 rating. It marked Sokolov’s second straight year with declining minor-league production after he notched a career-high 38 assists and 59 points in 70 games with the Belleville Senators in 2022-23.
While Sokolov had legitimate top-nine upside a couple of years ago, that’s likely gone with his AHL development stalling out. Instead of continuing in his current role as a top-nine minor-league piece, he’ll return home to play in Russia for the first time since 2016-17. He played junior hockey with QMJHL Cape Breton for three years before turning pro with the Senators in 2020.
Mammoth Could Move Fourth Overall Pick
Late last week, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period released his list of major talking points heading into the offseason. One of the more interesting reports was that the Utah Mammoth are open to moving the fourth-overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft.
It’s understandable from the Mammoth’s perspective. They’re a team that is planning on contending for a playoff position in the 2025-26 season, and there won’t be a player available at fourth overall to help them achieve that goal. In his report, Pagnotta shares that they’d be looking for a young, top-six, proven forward.
The idea is similar to the nixed trade that would have sent a package including Martin Nečas to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the fourth overall pick in last summer’s draft. The deal didn’t happen, but the Blue Jackets weren’t as interested in trading the draft pick as the Mammoth appear to be.
Simashev And But's European Assignment Clause Only Kicks In After 18 Months In North America
- The European Assignment Clauses that the Mammoth gave to Daniil But and Dmitri Simashev this week are a little different than usual. Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune relays that the two are only able to execute that clause after the first 18 months of the contract, or January 1, 2027. That ensures that Utah will have full developmental control over the first rounders for the first year and a half in North America but if the two aren’t full-fledged NHL regulars by then, they will then have the opportunity to return home if they desire.
Mammoth Sign Gabe Smith To Entry-Level Contract
The Mammoth announced they’ve signed center prospect Gabe Smith to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Utah selected Smith, who turns 19 in August, as part of their first draft class in franchise history last year. They took the hulking 6’5″, 207-lb pivot in the fourth round from the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats.
Smith, while drafted for his upside as a bottom-six checking center, has had something of an offensive breakthrough after returning to Moncton this season. After scoring nine goals and 23 points in 54 games last year, he upped those numbers to 20 goals and 39 points in 52 regular-season appearances with a +23 rating. He’s been on another level with the Wildcats in the postseason, though. He ranked second on the team in playoff scoring with a 6-16–22 line in 19 games, along with a team-high +15 rating, as Moncton won its first QMJHL championship in 15 years. He’s also posted two goals and two assists in three games thus far for the Wildcats at the Memorial Cup.
Needless to say, Smith’s stock has grown tremendously in the 11 months since he was drafted. He’s not a candidate for an NHL job in the fall, though, so his entry-level deal will slide to the 2026-27 season before taking effect. The contract will expire following the 2028-29 campaign, after which he’ll be a restricted free agent.
It’s been a busy week for the Mammoth, who also came to terms with 2023 Coyotes first-round picks Daniil But and Dmitri Simashev on entry-level deals to bring them to North America for 2025-26.