The Toronto Maple Leafs continued their streak of not making a trade or a signing since their season finished by not getting a deal done that would have sent a game-changing winger to the Blue and White.
Late Wednesday night, it was reported by multiple sources that the Buffalo Sabres have traded goalscoring winger and pending restricted free agent, JJ Peterka, to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Michael Kesselring and winger Josh Doan. Insane trade aside, it was also reported by The Athletic's James Mirtle, that the Maple Leafs were heavily involved in talks to get Peterka from the Sabres.
Leafs had been in the Peterka trade talks. Probably don't have a package like that to offer.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 26, 2025
There is nothing like the fallout of one of the biggest one-sided trades of the NHL offseason, and seeing that the Leafs were involved in discussions but just couldn't get the deal done.
And if we're talking about the actual deal being made, both Doan and Kesselring are great players on their own and are miles better defensively than Peterka would ever be in his career. But, it's like getting two crappy, mud-covered dimes in exchange for your dollar. Doan is a 23-year-old winger who is just getting started on being a solid, two-way, middle-six forward that can play in all situations. And Kesselring is maybe the most ideal bottom-pairing defenseman on a championship team, but could go up to your second pairing if needed -- and he's only 25 years old, too.
Both of those players are nice adds, but giving up Peterka, who just scored a combined 55 goals in his last two seasons for a very bad Sabres team, is a tough look.
Could the Leafs have matched that, somewhat? Would Brandon Carlo and his minimized contract be enough to replace Kesselring in the deal. And could we have seen Nick Robertson or maybe even an Easton Cowan sent in this hypothetical contract? Possibly. But, we will never know.
The Leafs continue to plan on adding a free agent or two, and are clearly heavily involved in the trade market. Let's just hope that they actually do something in the next few days other than get a pat on the back for trying to be in trade discussions and come out empty handed.