Mere minutes before the 2026 NHL Draft began, the Boston Bruins and Utah Mammoth announced a trade!
In the deal, the Bruins acquired 24-year-old forward JJ Peterka from the Mammoth as the centerpiece of the trade. Peterka played just one season in Utah after being traded nearly a year ago from Buffalo to the Mammoth in the Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan deal. Things unfortunately didn’t seem to work out for Peterka in Utah, but Boston is clearly banking on the promise he’s shown over the last few years as the team looks to rebound from its first round playoff exit this past spring.
Now that the dust has settled on this trade, let’s dig into the details and hand out grades to both the Bruins and Mammoth here.
Bruins and Mammoth trade details
Bruins get: F JJ Peterka
Mammoth get: 2026 first-round pick, 2028 first-round pick (top-10 protected)
Bruins trade grade
Peterka is a top-six talent that seemingly got lost a bit in the shuffle in Utah’s system. Last season, Peterka had a bit of a step back from his career high, as he scored 25 goals and had 47 points in a full season of work. Even so, the Bruins paid a high price to get Peterka in the form of multiple first round picks. Peterka is a solid get, but losing that much draft capital for a player who might not grow to star levels knocks this grade down slightly.
Grade: B-
Mammoth trade grade
Though Peterka has the potential to be a great top-six player, nabbing two first round picks — even with the conditions on the 2028 pick — is a pretty tidy piece of work here. While the Mammoth get worse in the short term, getting two first-round picks gives Utah the edge here in this deal.
Grade: B+
This article originally appeared on For The Win: JJ Peterka trade grades: Who won the Bruins and Mammoth deal?
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