We have the means to sign Peterka to a long term contract
We have 17.5M in cap space next year with 13 players signed. If we re-sign Giroux, and fill up our entire roster with players in the 775k-1.XXM range, that space is mostly spoken for. That likely eats up around 15M of that space. "We shouldn't sign Giroux" isn't a realistic option.
Cap space is at a premium for us and we have minimal cap flexibility, so giving up a 1st for a player without moving cap out is sort of a double-whammy in this situation. Because it means we have to find the 5M-8M to extend Peterka somewhere. I don't think many of our players are moveable without taking back cap. For example, you could say trade Batherson, but what's the market like for Batherson if we can take back a contract vs only dealing with teams who can take on his entire 5M hit clean. The double whammy is putting ourselves in a situation where we have to make trades from a position of weakness because of the cap we would need to clear.
That's why I think it would have to be something like Batherson for Peterka, and I highly doubt Buffalo would do that. If I recall, the post I responded to suggested our first for Peterka, but I might be misremembering. If a third party team at the deadline is willing to do something like an expiring contract+1st for Batherson, and we can then flip that 1st in a package for Peterka, that makes sense. But looking at how Buffalo has handled moving their other young stars in the past, they probably want a comparable young star in a change of scenery type move.
The cap is going up this season, but only slightly. The big jump is in 2026-2027 and 2027-2028. Looking at our roster, we're going to see a lot more of Korpisalo for Ullmark, Chychrun for Jensen, and 3rd+Joseph type trades, where we either have to give up assets to gain cap or make hockey trades where similar cap is going in and out.