Boston Bruins
JJ Peterka fits the profile of what Boston is seemingly targeting this summer as a speedy, skilled winger.
JJ Peterka has averaged 26 goals over the last three seasons. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
Two days after Don Sweeney mentioned that he was “eager to participate” in the trading frenzy across the NHL, Boston’s general manager finally struck.
Boston acquired Utah Mammoth wing JJ Peterka on Friday night in exchange for two first-round picks — the Bruins’ 2026 first-round selection (No. 23 overall) and the Florida Panthers’ 2028 first-round pick.
Boston initially acquired that Florida first-round selection as a conditional pick from the Brad Marchand trade in March 2025. As part of the new conditions on that pick, Boston has options if Florida’s 2028 first-round selection falls within the top 10 after the draft lottery.
If that Florida pick does fall below the top-10, Boston can choose to instead transfer the Bruins’ own 2029 first-round pick to Utah.
Peterka, 24, is a talented young forward who fits the profile of what Boston seems to be seeking this summer as a speedy, high-octane talent.
Here are five things to know about Peterka:
He fits what the Bruins are targeting this offseason
Both Don Sweeney and Cam Neely didn’t mince words earlier this summer when asked about some of Boston’s overarching needs after a brief playoff appearance.
“We got bounced in the first round,” Neely said last month. “So yeah, we need more talent. We need more speed. That’s something that we have to try to acquire in one way, shape or form.”
Peterka fits that profile as a speedy, scoring forward who can both generate chances off the rush and is willing to operate in high-danger ice.
The 24-year-old winger has already put together a few promising seasons in the NHL — reaching 50 points in two of his four full NHL campaigns. Over his last three years, he has averaged 26.6 goals per season.
A look under the hood at his underlying metrics also highlights his ability to put opposing skaters on their heels and generate Grade-A looks.
According to NHL EDGE tracking data, Peterka ranked in the 97th percentile of NHLers last season in terms of speed bursts between 20-22 miles per hour. He also had nine skating bursts over 22 miles per hour, which ranked in the 87th percentile.
Peterka blends that skating ability with a dangerous shot and the ability to orchestrate quality looks with the puck on his stick. Per JFreshHockey’s microstats, Peterka also ranked in the 81st percentile in zone entries with puck possession among NHLers, as well as the 80th percentile in high-danger passes.
Boston will be banking on an uptick in production from Peterka after a quieter 2025-26 campaign in Utah (25 goals, 47 points in 82 games). Even with that dip in scoring, Peterka still generated 2.09 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes last year — a higher rate than Morgan Geekie (2.08), Sebastian Aho (2.05), and Nikolaj Ehlers (1.96).
There’s a lot to like about how Peterka’s wheels should help Boston’s forward corps — especially after the Bruins were outskated throughout their six-game playoff series against Buffalo.
He hails from Germany
Peterka stands as the latest instance of the Bruins targeting a German-born player since Marco Sturm took over as Boston’s bench boss last June.
Much like Sturm, Peterka hails from Bavaria, with Peterka growing up in Munich. The Bruins posted a video of Sturm giving Peterka a call shortly after Friday’s deal went down.
Beyond his shared nationality with his head coach, Peterka also has some ties to new Bruins assistant coach Matt McIlvane. Peterka played for McIlvane — who was the coach of EC Salzburg — while on loan in the ICE Hockey League in Austria during the 2020-21 season.
Peterka first put himself on the map as a blue-chip prospect while playing for EHC Red Bull München in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), eventually getting drafted in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft (No. 34 overall) by Buffalo while skating in Europe.
Peterka has represented Germany on the international stage on several occasions. In 2023, he was named the Best Forward of the 2023 IIHF World Championship after leading Germany to a silver medal with six goals and 12 points in 10 games.
Peterka also played for Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics — scoring a goal and posting four points over five games.
The Bruins also traded for another German-born forward earlier this year, sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks in order to acquire winger Lukas Reichel.
He fell out of favor with his former team
Expectations were high for Peterka entering the 2025-26 season, especially after the Utah Mammoth paid a premium to pry him out of Buffalo.
Beyond signing Peterka to a five-year, $38.5 million contract ($7.7 million average annual value) as a pending restricted free agent, Utah also dealt forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring to the Sabres — with Doan in particular developing into a key cog on Buffalo’s roster this past season.
But for all of the hope that Peterka was going to build off of a 68-point season with Buffalo in 2024-25, he struggled to find his footing with the Mammoth, with his scoring totals dropping by 21 total points.
In total, Peterka saw his total ice time drop from 18:11 with Buffalo to 15:59 in his lone year in Utah, with those reps dropping to under 14 minutes a game during the postseason. During a first-round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in April, Peterka was benched for half of the third period and all of overtime in an eventual 5-4 loss.
“It was because of his play,” Utah head coach Andre Tourigny said of the reason for benching Peterka. “I had a discussion with JJ. That discussion will stay inside our room.”
Peterka did not record a point in Utah’s six-game series against the Golden Knights to go along with a minus-3 rating.
A steady dose of power-play reps should help Peterka boost his numbers in Boston. Peterka ranked seventh on Utah in power-play ice time per contest (1:57), with just five of Peterka’s 47 points coming on the man advantage last year.
Peterka and his family built a hockey rink in their backyard
Peterka and his family have placed an emphasis on growing the game of hockey in Germany — especially after the future NHL forward spent many hours of his childhood driving out of Munich and over the border to both Czechia and Austria for suitable rinks and playing surfaces.
As such, Peterka and his family built a full hockey rink — with small-area ice for either 3-on-3 play or kids’ practices — in the backyard of their new house in Buchbach, Germany.
The rink — which is slated to open this month after years of development — will be used to make ice more accessible to younger hockey fans across Bavaria. The facility also has a cafe, gym, and golf simulator for the nearby community.
“Our passion, since JJ is playing hockey, it’s hockey,” Dennis Peterka, JJ’s father, told NHL.com “And I told my wife, we have learned so much about hockey, about coaches, about practice, about winning, losing. We made a lot of mistakes in this way, just with JJ. Why not make something for the following generations, help them?
“Germany is not a hockey land. Germany is soccer — and you have to help all these parents if they have kids who have a passion to be a hockey player. If we help them not to make these mistakes we made, then it’s a great step for them. So that’s the passion for the future.”
Peterka did more than just play hockey on the ice
Peterka was far from just a hockey player while growing up in Germany. Among some of his other interests? Soccer and short-track speed skating.
Peterka would oftentimes wrap up hockey practice, switch into his speed-skating suit, and return to the same ice — with the fleet-footed forward crediting those speed-skating reps for turning him into the explosive player he is today.
“I spent all of my time on his skating because the hands were there and the feel for the game – the timing and reading of the game – was there at a young age,” skating and skills coach Yanick Dube told The Score of working with Peterka. “I figured, if this kid wants to make it, he needs to focus on his skating.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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