Boston Bruins
“I think when I’m at [my] best, I can score — basically from everywhere.”
JJ Peterka has averaged 26 goals per season over the last three years. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
COMMENTARY
Bruins fans are no strangers to watching their team sit on the sideline during the first round of the NHL Draft.
From 2018 to 2023, the Bruins only picked twice in the first round (2019, 2021) — with Boston relinquishing multiple blue-chip pieces of draft capital in hopes of putting a core of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, and Tuukka Rask, and others over the top.
Those years spent relinquishing future returns played a major part in Boston’s inevitable fall-off in 2024-25, with Boston’s pipeline of young talent severed for multiple years.
Given those ramifications, it should come as little surprise that Boston fans recoiled in fear on Friday when reports first broke that the Bruins were parting ways with multiple first-round picks in order to pry winger JJ Peterka out of Utah.
It was a sentiment that was not lost on Don Sweeney and Boston’s top brass as well — given the evident need for the Bruins to cultivate another core of talent behind franchise pillars like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman.
But as the Bruins try to both bolster this current group and prop up the next wave, the chance to add a 24-year-old like Peterka was too good to pass up.
“It was certainly one of the variables that we were considering, yes,” Sweeney said of weighing Peterka’s age and skillset against the cost of two first-rounders. “Term and the contract, skill, and quality of the player are ultimately what drive our decision-making. But he fits in, as I said.
“I think he fits into a good group, age-wise. … He can ride shotgun with David [Pastrnak], he can go down and drive a line. … It’s an attractive situation for us to add a player of that age band that’s had success in the lead that has the skill sets that we were looking for.”
In terms of the cost, two first-round picks (Boston’s 2026 and Florida’s 2028) are a hefty price to pay for any player. But relinquishing the No. 23 pick for a legitimate top-six weapon like Peterka stands as a safer bet for the Bruins than waiting for that first-round selection to marinate and make a push for the NHL in three or four years.
Look no further than the player eventually picked at No. 23 overall — Kamloops winger J.P. Hurlbert. We tabbed Hurlbert as a player worth targeting for Boston as a scoring wing with 25-goal upside in due time.
But all things considered, if the Bruins held onto pick No. 23 and selected Hurlbert, you’re hoping he eventually turns into … Peterka?
And after the Panthers added Brady Tkachuk to an already stacked roster last week, the writing was on the wall that Boston should have moved a 2028 first-round pick that is likely going to be well down on the draft board.
Boston also has some protections in place in case something calamitous happens with the Panthers — as the Bruins can choose to give Utah their own unprotected 2029 first-round pick in case Florida’s 2028 pick ends up being a top-10 selection.
And in return, a Bruins team in desperate need of more scoring punch and speed has a player in Peterka who should slot right into a top-six role.
Peterka has already been a productive player in the pro ranks, averaging 26.6 goals over the last three seasons with Buffalo and Utah. In his final season with Buffalo in 2024-25, the then-22-year-old wing scored 27 goals and 68 points in 77 games.
Those numbers did dip in his first (and only) season with Utah. Over 82 games, he tallied 25 goals and 47 total points — a 21-point dip from the previous year.
Sweeney was quick to chalk up Peterka’s scoring slump to curtailed reps on the power play in Utah, although the new Bruins winger put the onus on himself.
“I take full accountability,” Peterka said of his short stint in Salt Lake City. “I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing. I think I just have way more I can give. I think with Boston, the fit is gonna be awesome.”
Despite the optics of Peterka’s scoring dip and shuffling between clubs, a look under the hood at Peterka’s season in Utah shows some promise.
At face value, Peterka is already a 25-goal, top-six winger. But Peterka could have more room to grow in Boston, especially if he’s both handed top power-play reps and potentially slots in on a line with Pastrnak.
Peterka ranked seventh on Utah’s roster last season in power-play ice time per game (1:57), with just five of his 47 total points coming on the man advantage.
But at 5-on-5 play, Peterka was one of the more productive NHLers in terms of generating offense, even during a “down year” with the Mammoth.
In total, Peterka generated 2.09 5-on-5 points per 60 minutes of play in 2025-26, which was a higher scoring rate than multiple standout wingers across the NHL, including:
Morgan Geekie (2.08)
Filip Forsberg (2.03)
Lucas Raymond (1.98)
Kirill Marchenko (1.94)
Seth Jarvis (1.89)
Jordan Kyrou (1.89)
Pavel Dorofeyev (1.76)
That’s not to say that Peterka is a more complete player than another star winger like Jarvis. But it’s oftentimes a good indication for an impact forward if he does a lot of damage at 5-on-5 action — especially if a fresh start elsewhere opens the door for an uptick in power-play production.
An extended run next to Pastrnak could open the door for Peterka to take another step forward as a legitimate 30-goal, 70-point player for the foreseeable future.
“I think when I’m at [my] best, I can score — basically from everywhere,” Peterka said. “Making a lot of plays, and yeah, taking the game over. I think that’s one thing that when I’m really playing at my highest level, that’s one thing I can provide, for sure.”
The manner in which Peterka generates offense should also be a welcome sight for a Bruins team that was thoroughly out-skated by Buffalo during their six-game playoff series this spring.
It should come as little surprise that Peterka landed in Boston’s sights over a month after Cam Neely declared that the Bruins needed more “speed” and “talent” in their lineup.
Per 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 across the league.
Be it capitalizing on rush chances, generating clean zone exits and entries with the puck on his stick, or simply using his wheels to put skaters under duress on the forecheck, a player with Peterka’s skillset should be a welcome addition to this current Boston lineup.
“We’ve acknowledged that we’re a competitive group, and our guys did a really, really good job last year. But we are trying to get deeper and add speed,” Sweeney said. “Marco has talked about the forecheck side of things, and adding speed is an element that we felt we needed to continue to address internally with some of the younger players and externally, if we could identify them.”
Peterka is not the final piece that puts the Bruins over the top. But he checks off plenty of boxes as a top-six regular who — at 24 years old — still has plenty of room to grow with a retooling Boston roster.
He may not be Jason Robertson as a franchise wing, but adding a potential 30-goal regular to a Bruins club without relinquishing its top prospects or valuable draft assets (Toronto 2028 first, Boston’s own 2027/28 firsts) stands as a good bit of business for Sweeney and Co.
The Bruins have plenty of work to do this summer. But bringing in a player like Peterka is a solid start to what should be a busy week for Boston.
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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