How these Utah Mammoth players reacted to getting traded: ‘Kind of in shock’

It was around midnight when Michael Kesselring got the call.

He — and his best friend Josh Doan — had just been traded from the Utah Mammoth.

“Wave of emotions, kind of in shock,” Kesselring said. “And then the regularly scheduled routine this morning. I got up at 6:30 a.m. to go skate and stuff. Didn’t get much sleep last night. This morning, it has turned into a lot of excitement.”

Utah dealt Kesselring and Doan to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward J.J. Peterka on Wednesday. Peterka, who would’ve been a restricted free agent come July 1, agreed to a five-year, $38.5 million contract extension ($7.7 million average annual value) with the Mammoth as part of the trade.

It was the Mammoth’s first move in what is expected to be an active offseason. The return was strong for general manager Bill Armstrong, but it cost him two players who took pride in putting the Utah jersey on. The NHL is a business indeed.

“That’s the hard part as a GM — sometimes you have to trade players that you truly love,” Armstrong said. “If you want something really great, you have to give up something at the end of the day…You always have to weigh where you are in the build and where you’re going. I think where we’re going is we needed someone on the top two lines who could put the puck in the net.”

Peterka no doubt fills that role. The 23-year-old winger had 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 77 games in his final run in Buffalo while skating on the first line (with Josh Norris and Tage Thompson) and on the first power play unit. He matches the age and timeline of the Mammoth’s core and has ample room — especially defensively — to grow.

The deal made sense. But that does not make it easier on the players who had to leave.

“It sucks but it is exciting as well. It was an unbelievable first season. It’s something I’ll never forget, special to be part of a team’s first year. The fan support was crazy. Even just with me personally, they were so good to me personally throughout the year,” Kesselring said.

“Everyone in that locker room is a good guy — that’s probably the hardest part for me. Get a little emotional talking to [Logan Cooley] and [Clayton Keller] and stuff. That’s the tough side of the game. You’re going to miss your best friends.”

Kesselring, Doan and Cooley quickly turned into a trio in Salt Lake City last season. From shopping for over-the-top sunglasses, going to dinner on road trips and crashing each other’s media scrums, the bond was evident.

Luckily for Kesselring and Doan, they’ll have each other during this next stage of their careers. The defenseman and forward have lived together for the past two years and are planning to keep that going in Buffalo. Kesselring’s cats (Socks and Ranger) and Doan’s dog (Hank) are expected to make the move, too. Doan said having all the animals together will make the new city feel more like home.

“It’s huge — Kess and I are really close,” Doan said. “We’ve gotten to know each other and he’s someone that I’ll always lean on when things happen. To go into this together is something really cool. As a duo, we’re excited to come to Buffalo and help the team out.”

Tage Thompson is another familiar face waiting for them on the Sabres. Thompson — the forward who led Buffalo with 72 points last season — played for the U.S. Men’s National Team with Kesselring and Doan at the 2025 IIHF Men’s World Championship in May. Thanks to Thompson’s overtime goal (assisted by Cooley), Team USA won gold at the tournament for the first time in 92 years,

They all golfed together while out there — Doan admitted Kesselring is probably the best of the three, followed by Thompson and then himself.

“I love Tage. I think his game is great,” Doan said. “He’s a guy who was obviously in Arizona a little bit in the offseason so I got a chance to work with him. My first time seeing him skate was probably four years ago and that was the welcome to the NHL moment for me — seeing how much skill he had for a big man and how far I’ve got to go to get to that level.”

Doan and Kesselring will join Thompson in trying to revive the Sabres next season. Kesselring has actually had some pretty good showings at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center. He recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist and fight) there on Dec. 7 in the Mammoth’s 5-2 win.

“I was joking with Tage actually at Worlds that that’s my favorite arena to play in — I scored my first NHL goal there, too,” Kesselring said. “There’s a lot of good memories in that arena so far. Maybe it was meant to be.”

As the two newest Sabres get acclimated to the organization, the Mammoth’s focus turns to Peterka and what he can bring to the lineup. The deal — which surfaced around 10 p.m. MT on Wednesday — was a surprise to many. It was believed by some that Buffalo was not shopping Peterka. That, obviously, was not true. Armstrong said he heard noise about Peterka around the NHL Scouting Combine at the beginning of June.

“Obviously as a GM, you stay in tune to what’s going on in the league and you make some calls. I didn’t think anything was going to happen but sure enough, it did. It was one of those things where I think it is a win-win for both clubs,” Armstrong said. “It took some time to mature and get across the finish line but we were able to do it.”

Peterka will add the top-six scoring punch and natural speed that the Mammoth have lacked. He’s also locked in for five years to develop alongside Utah’s young core with the likes of Cooley and Dylan Guenther. It seems that was enticing to Peterka — evident by his contract extension — and made the trade welcomed news.

“I don’t think it was a surprise to be traded — I think [Peterka] knew at some point it was coming. I think he was excited to know that he was going to our team. I think he had done some studying on our club and he was excited about coming here,” Armstrong said.

“We’re a new franchise here in Utah so it’s one of those things where they’ve come in and played us one or two times at most. Got a good vibe for the city, saw how good our club was and the young players that were on it and said, ‘Hey listen, this is a team that is on the rise.’”

With that rise comes making hard decisions — but ones that ultimately better the team. Buffalo thinks Kesselring and Doan can help them and Utah believes the same in Peterka. Time will tell how the deal shapes out.

“I’m ready to prove that I can play in an elevated role for extended times,” Kesselring said.

“I want to bring a little bit of leadership element and bring something to the group that hard work is what it’s going to take to pay off at this level,” Doan said.

“[Peterka] is hungry to make a difference,” Armstrong said. “He’s going to have an opportunity to come in and prove himself here and have a good impact on our club.”