The Boston Bruins are working the phones hard on draft day, closing in on a deal to pry right wing JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth, according to league sources. The move would drop a 25-goal scorer with a heavy shot onto Boston's wing depth chart as the front office tries to thread the needle between chasing another playoff run and reshaping the roster on the fly.
According to The Athletic, Utah is prepared to send Peterka to Boston, with the Bruins viewing him as a potential No. 2 right wing behind David Pastrnak. The outlet frames the talks as part of Boston's push to add more speed and finish on the flanks this summer. Negotiations were said to be active late into Friday as the teams haggled over the final details of the return.
Numbers and contract
NHL.com lists Peterka with 25 goals and 22 assists for 47 points in 82 games in 2025-26, with an average time on ice of 15:59. The site also notes that he signed a 5-year, 38.5 million dollar extension with Utah last summer, a 7.7 million dollar annual cap hit. Those counting stats, along with his shot volume and even-strength production, are the big reasons teams are circling despite some questions about his fit in Salt Lake City.
Aggregators such as StatMuse track similar scoring and usage trends, reinforcing the picture of a winger who can step into a top-six role without much of a learning curve.
Cap questions for Boston
Dropping a 7.7 million dollar cap hit into the mix would immediately change Boston's summer math, and The Athletic points to Viktor Arvidsson's future as one of the ripple effects. The veteran winger is set to hit unrestricted free agency on July 1, and a Peterka deal could force the Bruins to choose between paying for new blood or keeping a familiar face.
Local cap watchers have Boston entering draft week with solid draft capital and roughly 15.4 million dollars in projected cap space, numbers that will drive how high general manager Don Sweeney is willing to bid for a top-six winger. For a closer look at the Bruins' current picks and cap outlook, see the team tracker at Boston Hockey Now.
Where he might fit on the ice
Peterka profiles as a rush-heavy winger with a quick release and a knack for scoring at even strength, the kind of player who could slide into a second-line role or at least a high-leverage top-six spot in Boston if he clicks in coach Marco Sturm's system. His underlying numbers at sites like Hockey-Reference show the possession and ice-time backbone behind those raw totals, while StatMuse charts the game-by-game production that has kept him on trade boards around the league.
How Boston deploys him in special teams and defensive matchups would determine the real return on this investment. In essence, the Bruins would be buying proven even-strength scoring and straight-line speed, then betting that their coaching staff can squeeze more two-way value out of his game.
What to watch next
Word that Boston and Utah were deep in talks started bubbling up on social media during draft day, with league insiders amplifying the chatter. A round-up of that reporting is collected by Heavy.
If the sides finalize terms and the NHL signs off, both the Bruins and the Mammoth are expected to make it official with coordinated announcements that will finally reveal the full package heading to Utah. Until then, the main items on the watch list are Boston's public confirmation, the exact assets included in the deal and any quick-follow roster moves the Bruins make to clear cap space and carve out Peterka's role in a suddenly tighter top six.
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