Sabres might be forced to trade JJ Peterka with 'significant offers' on the table, claims NHL insider

JJ Peterka broke out as one of the best emerging young players in hockey this season.

The Buffalo Sabres' second-round pick (34th overall) from the 2020 NHL draft has made huge improvements in all three years of his career thus far. After a 32-point rookie campaign, Peterka jumped up to 50 points in 2023-24 and then blew by that number to rack up 68 points this season.

The growth of his game makes you believe that the Sabres would view him as a core piece of their future, along with Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and Owen Power. However, the feeling may not be mutual from Peterka's side of things.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, going back to the trade deadline, has reported that Peterka isn't thrilled about being in Buffalo long-term. He was involved in trade rumors then, and that doesn't appear to be slowing down as we head into the offseason.

Seravalli had JJ Peterka listed as the number one player on his top 20 trade targets board shared on Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter).

"There may be no better player available, period, on the trade market this summer – let alone one of Peterka’s age at 23, already a top-line producer. Embattled Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has said publicly that he has no designs on trading Peterka, but the sense is a change of scenery is in order. Multiple teams put together significant offers for Peterka in the days leading up to the March deadline, but Buffalo was not biting then. They may have less choice now with a potential offer sheet waiting on the other end of July 1." Seravalli wrote.

JJ Peterka is a pending RFA, having just completed the final season of his three-year, $2,567,502 entry-level contract with the Sabres, signed in 2021.

He provided more about JJ Peterka's dissatisfaction in Buffalo

Later on Tuesday afternoon, Frank Seravalli dove deeper into the details of a potential split between JJ Peterka and the Buffalo Sabres.

Daily Faceoff shared the video on YouTube.

"I think it's gone sideways in Buffalo for Peterka and a handful of other Sabres players. I think they're unhappy with the lack of progress, and it's hard to really squint and see light at the end of the tunnel as they've hit 14 consecutive seasons without the playoffs," Seravalli said (17:46).

Whatever the Sabres decide to do, they must ensure that if they're losing Peterka, they receive a haul in return.

Watching talented players like this walk out the door for less value than they provide is exactly how to continue missing the playoffs moving forward.