- Marco Sturm says the Bruins tracked JJ Peterka for years before finally landing him
- Boston sent the No. 23 pick and a conditional 2028 first-rounder to Utah in the deal
- Read below for what Sturm said about a winger he still has not met face to face
Marco Sturm has not met the biggest addition of his offseason.
The Bruins coach talked about the JJ Peterka trade with Jim McBride of the Boston Globe, and he let slip that the two Germans have only spoken by phone since the deal went down two months ago.
“It’s great. The funny part is I still didn’t meet this kid yet. I talked to him a few times. He’s very excited to be at Boston Bruin,” Sturm said. “He knew he was going to get traded, and he really was telling me he was hoping for to be in Boston with the city like here tradition and also me as a coach. So, I’m excited.”
Sturm was also asked why Boston paid what it paid, and his answer went back further than draft weekend.
“I think the biggest reason for that trade was us, as an organization, they’ve been having an eye on him for a long, long time, even before he got drafted,” Sturm said. “So even last year, every year it seems like he was in a conversation. And this time it happened, and we really think and really hope that he will make a difference for us up front.”
The price was steep. Boston shipped the No. 23 pick in the 2026 draft and a conditional 2028 first-rounder to Utah on June 26, with Gary Bettman reading the trade out from the draft floor in Buffalo.
Take a look at what the Bruins bought:
Peterka is 24 and has four years left on the five-year, $38.5 million contract he signed in Utah, a $7.7 million cap hit. He put up 25 goals and 47 points in 82 games last season, down from the career highs of 27 and 68 he posted in Buffalo the year before.
His power-play minutes dried up with the Mammoth, but he refused to hand himself that excuse when he spoke to the Globe from Munich the morning after the trade.
“I take full accountability. I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing. I just have way more to give,” Peterka said. “So, with Boston, I think the fit is going to be awesome.”
Sturm is not the only German tie waiting for him. Assistant coach Matt McIlvane ran the bench for Peterka at EC Red Bull Salzburg, and winger Lukas Reichel came up alongside him back home.
Boston already put him in the sweater for a photo shoot in Munich last week, on the same trip that doubled as the Global Series announcement sending the Bruins to Germany in 2027-28:
Where he slots in is the fun part. Peterka projects as the left wing on David Pastrnak’s line, and he was asked in June about that possibility.
“It’s crazy. I think especially playing against him, how good he obviously is and watching him and then maybe playing with him, that would be obviously a huge honor,” Peterka said. “So yeah, that would be pretty sick.”
Camp opens next month, and Boston has plenty of roster questions to sort out before opening night. Sturm shaking hands with his new winger for the first time is not one of them.
