NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at JJ Peterka's potential after being traded to the Utah Mammoth.
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JJ Peterka has been traded to the Utah Mammoth by the Buffalo Sabres, giving the forward full-fledged breakout potential upon joining an already strong young core.
The 23-year-old, who signed a five-year contract with Utah after the trade, has already seen jumps in production in his second and third NHL seasons and is coming off a career-high 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 77 games playing mostly on Buffalo's top line with Tage Thompson.
Now Peterka, who's already 10th on the all-time points list among Germany-born players (150 in 238 games), joins an impressive group of 25-and-younger forwards in Utah that includes Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Barrett Hayton. Of the 15 NHL players who are 23 years old or younger that had at least 60 points this season, three are now on the Mammoth: Peterka (23; 68 points), Cooley (20; 65 points) and Guenther (21; 60 points).
Here are three underlying reasons the Peterka trade could pay dividends for the Mammoth:
1. Shot speed
Peterka ranked in the 94th percentile among forwards in average shot speed (64.70) this season. As Peterka's point totals increased over his first three seasons, his shooting percentage also jumped each year (9.6 as rookie in 2022-23; 12.4 in 2023-24; 15.6 this season). Peterka led the NHL in on-ice shooting percentage (14.2; minimum 25 games played) at 5-on-5.
The Sabres, despite missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, were tied with the Washington Capitals for the highest 5-on-5 shooting percentage (10.6). Peterka particularly thrived after Jan. 1 with 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) over his final 41 games, which was tied with his former linemate Thompson for 26th in the NHL. Peterka assisted on 16 of Thompson's 44 goals last season, the most by any of his teammates; Thompson led the League in 5-on-5 goals (33).
It's worth noting Guenther, who could potentially play on the same line and power play with Peterka after the trade, also ranks highly at his position in average shot speed (63.91 mph; 93rd percentile).
