Can someone explain to me why "Buffalo may not have a choice?"
Peterka is 4 years away from RFA. He has no arbitration rights. The Sabres have plenty of cap...?
The only way I can see that happening is he plans to hold out and simply refuse to sign, ever. Was that threatened?
Because if they hold on to him for 3-4 years not only will they lose leverage, but whoever acquires him won't be able to sign him to as favourable of a deal because of how close he is to unrestricted free agency. There is always a risk that he would want to walk to free agency, and could only be traded as a rental.
If they trade him now, he's guaranteed not to be a rental and the team that acquires him can most likely get him signed to a long term contract that is at a great cap hit because it would incorporate 4 RFA years into the cap hit.
It might be the difference between getting another young star for him or a package built around a top 5-10 pick in this draft vs getting a playoff 1st and a few other pieces for him as rental.
That's assuming an offer sheet does not materialize. A good team with cap space could offer him a 1 year 9.36M contract and get him for a playoff 1st/2nd/3rd, and then negotiate a long-term extension in January. For Buffalo, because he won't sign long-term, that would create a situation where he can sign his QO each year for 9.36M and walk to free agency. Is Buffalo ownership going to approve matching an offer sheet that is the equivalent to signing him to a 4 year 9.36M contract (as in, 4 separate 1 year 9.36M contracts).
The above paragraph might even be why he gets dealt early. There would be risk to holding on to his rights after July 1st.