JJ Peterka didn’t expect a phone call at 1 a.m. local time in Munich, Germany Saturday. He also didn’t expect that call to notify him that he’d been traded from the Utah Mammoth to the Boston Bruins.
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But such is the life of a pro athlete — and regardless of where he was going to suit up for the 2026-27 season, he knows he has to step his game up a notch.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really happy with the way I was playing,” Peterka told the Boston media in a virtual interview Saturday of his lone season in Utah. “I think I have way more to give than what I showed.”
After a 68-point 2024-25 season with the Buffalo Sabres, he was expected to provide similar numbers for the Mammoth — especially when playing along fellow young, dynamic players such as Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
It just didn’t work, though.
Peterka managed 47 points in 82 games with Utah, spending the latter part of the season in the bottom six. That said, his defensive numbers were nearly twice as good as they were the year before.
“I take full responsibility,” he said. “Like I said before, I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing. I think I just have way more I can give.
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“With Boston, I think the fit’s going to be awesome. Obviously going to work super hard this offseason to get back to my game and to help Boston win.”
Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong addressed the trade in his press conference following the first round of the NHL draft Friday evening.
“On our side of it, there’s just more good young players coming,” Armstrong said. “I think we created a spot now for a little bit of competition where some one of the young guys can jump in there and and go grab it.”
In Boston, Peterka will have the chance to play for Marco Sturm, the only German head coach in the NHL. Additionally, Matt McIlvane, an assistant coach with the Bruins, coached Peterka in 2021 with EC Salzburg in the top Austrian league.
“Super good relationship. We worked (on) a lot of skating together and just skills to get me to the NHL,” Peterka said of McIlvane. “Since then, it’s been awesome. Good relationship.”
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