With the Stanley Cup Final over and the Florida Panthers winning it for a second straight year, all eyes are now focused on the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft and the start of free agency.
NHL free agency officially starts on July 1. For the Buffalo Sabres, this has a lot of implications. JJ Peterka, who scored a career-best 68 points last season, is a restricted free agent coming off an entry-level contract with zero trade protection. Buffalo appears to have interest in trading the 23-year-old player.
Even with Buffalo’s $23 million in cap space and Peterka’s unhappy state, the odds are slim to none that the Sabres are actively seeking to dump him.
JJ Peterka Doesn’t Want To Be With the Sabres
Rumors continue to swirl that Peterka doesn’t want to be with Buffalo. The Sabres are still getting calls about his availability. A few NHL observers believe that he could become an offer-sheet target.
As revealed on “The Chris Johnston Show,” Johnston said that it isn’t a matter of the Sabres wanting to keep Peterka, but it’s a matter of Peterka not wanting to be there himself.
“He doesn’t want to be there,” Johnston said. “The team controls his rights so he can only do so much. He can try and get an offer sheet, but Buffalo has more than enough space to match. It’s not a case that the Sabres don’t want him. (Sabres general manager) Kevyn Adams couldn’t be more clear.
“He addressed this at the trade deadline,” Johnston said. “He said they see him being a part of their core moving forward, they love the player. But they think the player wouldn’t mind a change of scenery.”
Elliotte Friedman updates on how things may have shifted regarding JJ Peterka’s future in Buffalo (32 Thoughts) pic.twitter.com/BmRPccNxzR
— sabresource (@sabresource1) June 15, 2025
Some people who are saying that if Peterka doesn’t want to be there, that’s fine with them. As long as the Sabres can make a good trade with him as part of it.
JJ Peterka isn’t special enough to me to want to bully him into stay in a situation he doesn’t want to be in.
He isn’t Dahlin.
He isn’t Thompson.
Hell, he isn’t even Benson.
If he wants out, let him go, just make a good trade.
— Matt Kopnak (@MattKopnak) June 16, 2025
According to Lyle Richardson of Yahoo Sports, despite the right winger not wanting to be there, Buffalo remains reluctant about trading Peterka or making him an offer-sheet candidate. Time will tell where No. 77 ends up.
