VIDEO BREAKDOWN: Peterka Trade for Kesselring and Doan

VIDEO BREAKDOWN: Peterka Trade for Kesselring and Doan

well welcome back inside the coaches room i’m Pety today we’re going to take a little bit of a closer look at the big trade between the Buffalo Sabres and the Utah Hockey Club sending JJ Purka out west and Michael Castle Ring and Josh Don are headed to Buffalo now now I I know a lot of people are talking about this trade but but for me as a former video coach the only way to break down this trade is to go watch some film so that’s what we’re going to do today we’re going to look over some video and see some of the good some of the bad and what teams can expect out of these two players a and I want to talk first about the best player in this trade and I think the best player in this trade is JJ Purka the 23-year-old German right now he’s a left shot left wing but coming in at 6′ 189 by the way I got to say something we’re at the point in the National Hockey League right now that we can tell you how hard a shot is from the blue line and we can within centimeters we can tell you where a player is on the ice when he took the shot we can tell you the speed of the player on the ice can we get heights right like I I have not had the opportunity to stand next to JJ Purka i I don’t know how tall JJ Turk is but if he’s six feet dude look at the film maybe maybe I’m wrong please someone from Buffalo or someone that has stood next to JJ Purka tell me if he’s six foot tall he doesn’t look like he’s six foot tall on the ice and I guess NHL let’s get it right um but that brings up one of the bigger points about JJ Purka is his size he does a lot of things right and he’s an unbelievably high skill high skill player with a really good motor he gets to the net can shoot and do all those little things but we’re going to talk about his size as this goes on he’s a player was drafted second round in Buffalo in 2020 he’s played 238 games he’s got 150 points already in the national hockey he’s got 67 goals so let’s go to the film let’s see what makes JJ Purka JJ Purka let’s see some of the things that Utah hockey fans can expect out of this speedy winger and right now that is it it’s his speed his ability to get through the neutral zone to get from one end of the ice to the other and make plays like this as you see him coming through the neutral zone okay good stick we’re going to see that over and over again the ability for JJ Purka to separate players from the puck and create possession for himself and you can see here he creates possession but then he uses the speed to get around players and he throws pucks at the net he’s got really good speed and he uses that stick to his advantage and again you’re going to talk about his speed and his ability to get pucks up the ice here he is coming through the neutral zone again with speed uses a little play at the blue line but then he comes with more speed and look at this play it’s a one on one two with two back checkers not afraid of that his ability to use his stick and use his hands in small areas and tight spaces to make plays like this and get an opportunity towards the net and draw a penalty and again we talk about his speed through the neutral and his awareness he does want the puck back that’s one thing about Purko when he doesn’t have the puck he wants it back and he’s going to go get it and he’s going to pursue it with his speed and he’s going to get that good stick out again and get pucks going back the other way so you talk and expect this guy to create off the rush and generate scoring chances by driving the net hard and again draws another penalty and that’s what happens when you use your speed and get pucks to the net and he’s very talented we talk about his speed and his ability to get up the ice but we also have to talk about his hands and his skill level this is a high skilled guy again it’s a one-on- two and his abil ability to get through those players and make a play like this and finish it off while he’s falling down kid’s got high skill and he’s young at 23 years old you don’t know what the ceiling is on JJ Peter but you’re going to find out in Utah because you got him locked up for a very long time and we talk about his ability to get from one end of the ice to the other again you’re going to see that speed and his ability to turn defense around and if they’re not ready for him and if he they’re standing still he is going to surprise people and get around them and make plays like this at the net he’s a guy that can score utah needs more goal scoring and more secondary scoring jj Perka can provide that for them he’s a guy that’s going to bring offense to the mountains he’s a guy that’s going to bring offense to Utah the other thing he can do besides his speed and here he is again on the outside bringing in that speed to the outside lane driving hard but then he’s got this he’s got a shot and he’s beating goalies clean in the National Hockey League from outside the dot it’s a quick release goalies aren’t ready for it and he’s able to beat them on that far side and it’s not just like he does it once here is against the Boston Bruins again on that outside lane outside the dot and he takes that shot and he takes the far side and again beats the goalender clean he’s got an amazing shot coming with speed and he does it while he’s moving and it’s an incredibly quick shot he’s got that quick release that can beat goalenders clean and that’s something again that Utah is going to need that ability for him to score and again you see it how quickly that puck is on and off his stick and he’s able to get the puck past the goender because he is moving while he’s releasing the puck he’s great job at release quick release he’s got a dangerous shot and we talked about that stick again and his ability he doesn’t have the puck so what’s JJ Aka going to do he’s going to get that puck back again it’s a good stick creates the turnover and as he drives the net trusts his shot and he’s able to beat the goalender clean from the dot again we talk about his stick and his ability to separate players from the puck look at this against Victor Hedman he’s able to get in tap the stick and able to make a play like this because of his ability to use his stick and it’s not just offensively he’s got a high motor and he is going to play at both ends of the ice and he is going to work hard to get back and you’re going to see him in the back check this is a guy that doesn’t just play offensively he does want the puck back so he’s going to work really hard in the defensive zone so expect him to be a guy that’s going to play 200 feet and recover pucks he’s also extremely talented on the power play and this is going to be interesting when we see Utah because we’ve seen Dylan Gunther from this area of the ice with his shot and one-time and that’s where Purka stands on the other side of the ice if Utah can get this as a dual threat I’m not quite sure where Keller’s going to stand there’s too many options in Utah right now for the power play and that’s a good thing because Peterka from this side of the ice right now he is an absolute scoring threat again we talk about how low he is in the zone there he is from the dot here he is on this one from the dot quick release one-time beats the goalender clean again on the power play we’ve seen dry cidle from that spot over and over again but one of the things he can do is he can get it from these tight angles this is below the dot like this is a tight tight angle and he’s able to put this one in on the power play from there and you’re going to see it again from these tight angles drifting drifting drifting he’s almost at the goal line and his ability to score on the power play in that area of the ice and again for Utah’s power play to have multiple threats in multiple areas of the ice is only going to help their power play this is a good pickup for the Utah power play now there are some things with JJ Peter he’s 23 he’s still making mistakes let’s face it he’s still got some room to grow and to get better and one of the things we showed him beating players oneon- two one on three one on four well sometimes that can get him into trouble you can see him coming off the wall he’s got so much confidence in his hands right now he sees the lane and he thinks “I can shoot that lane.” But sometimes he turns the puck over because he tries to do a little bit too much and he thinks he can get through areas where he can he needs to make a better play so sometimes that can cause him some trouble and we talked about his size again can be an issue and when you get against some of these big defenseman in the National Hockey League it can be an issue and they can push you off the puck and get pucks going back the other ways and generate turnovers and again we talked about his ability of his strength and size along the walls can that be an issue for JJ Peroa it might be and I think that you’re going to see a lot of the small slight wingers for the the the Utah hockey club can be a problem and these battles are battles they’re going to need to win so either Peter’s got to move the puck quicker in these situations or he’s going to have to move his feet quicker because those battles along the wall he can struggle with at times and you’re going to see him again here his ability to get pushed off the puck and then the puck go the other way and again along the wall these wall battles where he’s outnumbered and outmanned and pushed off the puck can be a problem for JJ open ice and his ability to use his stick and his speed through the neutral zone he’s absolutely elite but we talked about the size on this team and you got three young stars now you got Peter with Kulie and Gunther i don’t know if they’re going to play together i like that line but but I’m not making the lines wait for Andre Turney to come up with something on what they’re going to do in training camp but again we talk about their size and that can be an issue for Utah you’ve got Krauss you’ve got McBain’s got to get signed you’re gonna have to get some size denil Boots coming from the KHL this year and we know Bill Armstrong continually talks about size in the Utah hockey club lineup they’re going to have to find it in the in the forward group and it’s going to be important because right now they’re top six if you include Schmolz Keller and Hayden they need some size so Burka is going to be a big asset in his ability to create offense get the puck up the ice use his speed dangerous on the power play great shot but they are going to have to get some strength so he can win those one-on-one battles along the wall and get their top goalcoring players the puck so what’s going back the other way time to talk about Michael Kessler this is a guy you might not know especially people in Buffalo might not know Michael Kessle is 25-year-old right-handed defenseman by the way that’s a big key here teams need right-handed defenseman from New Hampshire he’s 6 foot5 and Dude is every bit of 6’5 and we’ll show how he uses his height to play on the back end drafted in the sixth round by Edmonton a late round pick and he came to Arizona through the Nick Bugstead trade sending Nick Bugstead to Edmonton for a playoff run a few years ago he’s played 156 games in the National Hockey League and he’s got 53 points some of the strengths of Michael Kerring and it starts with his size and his ability to skate those two things combined make him a very skilled defenseman off of the rush so you’re going to see as he’s defending the rush here even when he’s off balance his ability to use his size and his strength and his reach to keep the play to the outside he can keep plays to the outside of the dots which is going to be a valuable thing for the Buffalo Sabres so he can keep those scoring threats away from the front of the net and I know they’re little details but it’s those kind of things that make Michael Kessle ring so good he’s got the quick feet so he’s able to keep up with players trying to get to the outside and again look at how he approaches him he pivots his hips and he keeps his stick in the lane so they can’t get the puck to the front of the net keeping the danger out from the front and again and again his ability to protect that outside lane and keep the puck to the outside using his reach and his body size to keep the puck to the outside that defending is going to be an asset for the Buffalo Sabres now he’s young and he still makes mistakes on these rush reads and you’re going to get frustrated at times Buffalo that you’re going to see him make mistakes on these rush reads but that happens to a young defenseman and it takes them longer to develop than it does a forward so be patient with Michael Kessering because he can make plays like this and keep people to the outside which brings up his reach and when you see that six foot five frame and his ability to get a stick to the inside and break up plays like this inside because players can’t get around that reach that’s a huge asset in the middle of the ice for Michael Kesler he’s also got getting into his 6’5 frame he’s going to have to get stronger he does have some stick strength and some body strength but look for that to be a part of his game that’s going to develop over time that he’s going to get stronger and he’s going to be able to push people off of the puck and be able to separate players in the defensive zone i think that is going to be one of his strongest assets as he continues into his career and again we talk about his stick and his ability to use his stick in front of the net and it’s little plays like this the little things that you might not notice that make you appreciate the way Michael Kessle ring defends and again it’s his stick and his reach and his ability to break up plays in front of the net by using that 6’5 frame and keeping pucks away from the blue paint and I want to see his skating his skating for a guy of his size it’s amazing to watch him move at times and here he is going back to retrieve the puck on a breakout and his ability to get there quicker turn on a dime and get the puck going back up ice he’s more offensively gifted than he was getting credit for and you see some of the plays like this that Michael Kessler can make through the neutral zone his ability to think offense right away he recognizes the change he recognizes the situation and he gets his feet moving buffalo needs this from the right side they need a defenseman on the right hand side that can attack the net and create offensively like this you’re going to see it again on the transition through the neutral zone his ability to get the puck up the ice but not just do that but use his feet and his hands to get the puck in the offensive zone and trying to create offense from using his speed and his hands through the neutral zone he anticipates he’s going to join in the rush you’re going to get a four-man rush when Michael Kessle Ring is on the ice he’s going to try to create offense using his speed through the neutral zone and again here he is getting through the zone and scoring against the St louis Blues because he joins the rush and again you’re going to see him during the rush against the Duck last man in which brings up his next strength he’s got a great shot and this is one of those shots that you release and it just gets through and he’s going to keep the puck in the offensive zone because of his speed and his ability to move his feet here he is against Nashville using his speed and his confidence to go down and pinch now he’s 25 there and he’s going to get better and he’s going to get more confident but he uses his speed and his skill pinch keep the puck in the offensive zone you’re going to see that over and over again and here’s against the Dallas Stars where he gets down low in the zone anticipates the puck pinches down low and he’s able to keep the puck in the offensive zone and allow the the Utah hockey club to main to maintain more time in the offensive zone all because his confidence in his feet you can see it over again here with Calgary pinching down low because he’s got a aggressive and he confident in his feet and he can move his feet quickly keep puck in the offensive zone against Dallas comes down low in the zone at the top of the circle again uses his good stick good reach keeps the puck in the offensive zone so he’s a guy that’s going to maintain more offensive zone time for Buffalo which is allowing to keep and gain more offensive opportunities the other thing is he’s active what that means he’s going to come in off of the blue line to help generate offense and that again is his offensive upside and his ability to generate and use his feet and you’re going to see him from the back end come in off of the blue line and he’s going to attack the net and again that’s a really good move for a guy that’s 6 foot5 and he continues on with the puck again maintains offensive zone time and he’s got that shot we talked about his shot you see how active he is his ability to pull pucks beat the player one-on-one and then get a shot like this from the top of the circle he’s got a real wiry wrist shot that he can shoot from anywhere and you’re going to see it here deep in the zone his ability to use this right shot change position move the puck into the middle of the ice and then fire this through a crowd he’s got a real dangerous shot and you’re going to see it at times here he is in overtime on the power play again dangerous shot walks in and beats the goalender clean here he’s again on the power play and he’s able to beat the goalender clean with that shot so there are so many things on his upside but he’s still young and at times with his offensive upside and his ability to carry the puck sometimes he wants to do a little too much and right now instead of making the easy play and the easy play he’s got to recognize danger and he’s got to find a time when he needs to move the puck and he can’t turn over pucks like this and put his team in a difficult situation below the goal line and you’re going to see it again here against Nashville where you just got to recognize what the play is and you can’t hold on to the puck for so long that you create a turnover and create up opportunities and then follow up that mistake with another mistake and not get to the front of the net and help defend so yes there are some downsides here he is again getting pushed off the puck low in the zone where he doesn’t move the puck quick enough or he throws the puck up the middle of the ice so as a young defenseman he’s going to have to learn to make fewer mistakes in the defensive zone with his puck play absolutely and he’s going to have to learn to adjust to rush reads better there is absolutely no doubt that he’s going to have to do that and there are times in the defensive zone that he gets lost part of that is the system he plays and and he’s still learning to play in the National Hockey League but he’s a player that I think does have a higher ceiling than people expect i do think he is a second pair defenseman in the National Hockey League and I think he’s going to be a big valuable asset to to the Buffalo Sabres offensively and I do think he’s going to improve defensively i think this is a good get for the Buffalo Sabres and I think you’re going to be surprised at how well he plays on the right side the last piece of this is Josh Don he’s 23-y old kid out of Scottsdale Arizona right-wing right shot has played center at times 6’2 just about 200 pounds drafted in the second round by the Arizona Coyotes played 62 games and he’s still trying to find his way in the NHL i mean he’s been up and down um with the minor league club in Tucson for the last couple of years but I’ll tell you this and I need to speak to Josh Don because I know Josh Don and I saw Josh Don grow up here in Arizona and I will say this I was wrong on Josh Don when he was 10 years old I said he was too small can’t play he’s not going to play junior he’s too small goes to the USHL and leads the Chicago USHL team in in scoring well he can’t go anywhere from there he’s he’s he’s not quick enough can’t skate well enough he’s going to ASU play ASU hockey going to the NCAA i don’t know if his skating is strong enough that he can survive in the NCAA and then he he is one of the top rookie goal scorers in the NCAA he scores the first goal in the history of Mullet Arena becomes a captain of that program and he proved me wrong again then he left to go turn pro and he said “Well I I said he’s going to be a thirdline American League player he’s you know he works incredibly hard and he’s a smart player but I don’t know if he’s got the foot speed the strength and the skill to play higher in the third line wrong again uh topline player for the Tucson Road Runners one of the players out in every situation becomes a leader on and off the ice and he gets called up and everything he did in Arizona when he got called up to the Arizona Coyotes one thing about Josh Don is he does it right he he he’s not going to be a guy that goes wows you off the page when you watch him play but when you study his game and watch him he’s going to do it right works incredibly hard on and off the ice everybody likes him unbelievable teammate sacrifices everything team first player second always with Josh Stone so guys like to play with him and for him does things the right way the little plays you want him to make as a coach he makes you can trust him on the ice offensively and defensively and he’s a guy you want to have on your team because he just brings everybody together so let’s go to the film a little bit and look at Josh Don and these are things that you might not notice this isn’t going to be the JJ Purka that’s going to go use his speed and skill to beat players up the ice that’s not Josh Don josh Don’s going to make plays like this in the offensive zone he’s the third forward high and as the play continues he’s going to recognize there’s danger i got to get back he gets himself in an above position and from this position he’s able to create a turnover gets the puck going back the other way it’s simple but it’s smart and when he for checks again you’re going to see him coming into the zone late and he’s high in the zone and you recognize the options that this player has and he gets to the wall and when he gets to the wall he creates a turnover and again the Utah hockey club’s able to keep the puck in the offensive zone and he works to keep the puck alive and get the puck at the net small details but they’re important you’re going to see him off of the faceoff here against the St louis Blues again St louis is on their way they’ve got the puck and they’re going to go into the offensive zone until they don’t because Josh Shone makes a really good small play taps the stick of the player creates the turnover and now they have the puck it’s the little things that you might not notice and they don’t go “Oh that’s that’s incredible.” No these are the little plays that make a difference and if you need a player to dump and chase and not stick handle through four guys and not lose the puck tell Josh “Dump the puck and go get it.” Because then he’ll go “Dump the puck and go get it.” Because that’s the right play that’s the smart play he dumps the puck in stays above it and helps get in there and create turnovers and get the puck to the net the other thing about Josh Don is this is where he likes to create offense is he’s going to get to the net he’s going to get to that area of the ice and he’s going to create turnovers you’re going to see here again on the breakup doesn’t handle the breakout pass but he doesn’t quit he doesn’t stop his motor is always going and he’s always thinking again that good stick pursuit stays with it stays with it and he makes the play and he’s got a never give up attitude on the ice and off the ice and you’re going to see again his stick pursuit his ability to chase pucks down use his stick chase it down and create turnovers because he is going to work you’re not going to outwork Josh when he’s on the ice again it’s these little details you’re going to see out of Josh here where it looks like it’s a turnover and you’re going to go “This is Kyru going the other way this is a really good player for the St louis Blues.” But Don doesn’t stop lifts the stick and they’re going back the other way it’s the little plays that make a difference with Jo Josh Don in the defensive zone coverage again we talk about his ability to recognize danger checks his shoulder sees where the trouble is recognizes the danger doesn’t chase the puck doesn’t get puck focused knows where the danger is and breaks up the play with a good stick again little plays that make a big difference and offensively yeah he’s going to score some goals he’s going to get to the net and this is the area where he excels because he’s going to fight to get to that blue paint he’s going to work hard to get opportunities like this at the blue paint and create and create havoc around that area of the ice and he’s going to get power play time he’s going to be a second power play unit guy at times because he can go to that area of the ice he’s not afraid to play in the front of the net gets his big body in front of the net and he’s going to work to create offense in front of that net you’re going to see him do the same thing off of the rush again we talk about smart players he knows I’ve got to get to the net he’s always going to drive the net off the rush he’s always going to get to the blue paint off the rush and he’s going to try to generate offensive opportunities from right inside the blue paint and you’re going to see it again here against the Nashville Predators his ability to drive the lane using his big body and size trying to get an offensive opportunity at the net and sometimes it pays off so what is Josh Don he’s going to get to the front of the net he’s going to work hard he is going to help provide offense because look at this work ethic that he has getting to the net and driving hard he works so in this trade JJ Purka for Kessle Ring and don’t who wins it honestly you don’t know one thing about trades it’s always going to have to be down the road when you see this but I think both teams win i think Buffalo was in a situation where they needed to move JJ Peter he wanted out he’s an RFA this wasn’t going to work out you got to move him on and in return you get two players that I think people don’t know but they don’t understand how good these players are and how good they can fit into what Buffalo Sabres are trying to do put Josh Don with Mloud on a third line that works and gets to the net hard and that’s a line you can trust michael Kessering on the right hand side just wait he’s going to provide some excitement from that side he’s going to provide some size from that side and he’s still young so I think this is a good trade for both sides well I I want to say thanks again for coming inside the coach’s room watching a little video with me today so make sure you subscribe to Inside the Coach Room over the summertime got a lot of things coming up i’m still working on Inside the Bubble a little long form documentary with some pictures and videos that I took in in the bubble of 2020 we’ve got that coming up and I am going to still work on more video it’s coming and make sure you subscribe to Inside the Coaches Room thanks for coming today i’m Pety and we’ll see you at the rink [Music]

Former NHL Video Coach, Steve “Petey” Peters goes to the film room to break down the trade between the Buffalo Sabres and the Utah Mammoth as J.J. Peterka is traded for Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan. Petey takes a closer look on what each team can expect from their new acquisitions. The strengths and weaknesses of each player and who won the trade.

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