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JJ Peterka, Buffalo Sabres (Photo by Ben Green/NHLI via Getty Images)

Insider Believes Flames Could Offer Sheet Talented Sabres Forward

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Rupert McDonald | Last updated May 1, 2025 1:55 PM ET

The Calgary Flames would benefit from adding a few more young forwards to their organization, and they may try to find one in an unconventional way this offseason. Though the Flames have some great young prospects, adding more to the mix would help speed up an already promising retooling effort.

The Flames not only have a ton of cap space but also a surplus of draft picks, meaning that if they wanted, they could get in on some offer sheet action this offseason. They considered it last year, with reports suggesting they had interest in the Edmonton Oilers’ Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg (who both landed with the St. Louis Blues via offer sheet). Now, they are being linked to another young, talented player from the Buffalo Sabres.

Flames May Have Interest in Peterka

While they have nearly $11 million in cap space, the Sabres have five pending restricted free agents in Ryan McLeod, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Bowen Byram, and Jacob Bernard-Docker. Those are pretty good players who will require some dollars to keep around. That could prove difficult and could be what prompts the Flames to take action.

Based on some recent comments from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Flames could try to land Peterka this summer. The 23-year-old winger has talent, with 27 goals and a career-high 68 points this season. In 2023-24, just his second season in the NHL, he scored a career-high 28 goals.

“Here’s one name that we’ve talked about a bit, and I know the Flames had called the Sabres as we got closer to the trade deadline, but how about a top-end winger like JJ Peterka?” Seravalli asked on the Big Show with Rusic & Rose. “Younger guy who’s now finishing off his deal, had a great run in Buffalo, is obviously clearly unhappy with the current situation. I think a team like the Flames are really well positioned to be able to put together an offer sheet.”

Peterka, who was selected 34th overall in the 2020 Draft, has quietly become one of the better young wingers in the game. He doesn’t have a ton of size at 6 feet, 189 pounds, but he has a non-stop motor that makes him both a difficult and frustrating player for the opposition to play against. Add in his great playmaking ability, and you have a very good right-winger who is only scratching the surface of his potential.

Should the Flames send an offer sheet Peterka’s way, fair value would be somewhere in the $7 to $7.5 million range, given what he’s shown at a young age. If the dollar amount started in the sevens, the Flames would part ways with their first, second, and third-round selections in the 2026 Draft, all of which they have. Is it a big price to pay? Sure, though it’s not a guarantee that any of those picks turn out, whereas, with Peterka, they already know they’re adding a very good player to their roster.

Flames Need More Offence

The Flames ranked 29th in the NHL this past season with a goals for per game average of 2.68. Meanwhile, they had just two players (Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau) surpass the 50-point mark. If it weren’t for Dustin Wolf’s heroics in the crease, they wouldn’t have been anywhere near a playoff spot.

General manager Craig Conroy will need to address that lack of scoring this summer and adding Peterka, who very much fits into their rebuilding timeline, would help in a huge way. Don’t be surprised to hear more chatter linking the two parties together as free agency inches closer.