BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres’ long-anticipated offseason retooling began late Wednesday night with the team agreeing to trade forward JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for forward Josh Doan and defenseman Michael Kesselring.
Both teams announced the deal with Utah revealing it signed Peterka to a five-year contract worth $38.5 million. Peterka completed his rookie contract this season, and was eligible to become a restricted free agent next week.
"There is a lot of excitement and positive momentum surrounding our team right now, and adding a player of J.J. Peterka’s caliber and offensive upside is another great step towards achieving our objectives as a group,” Mammoth president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong said.
This is a major swap of young players all within their first three full seasons of NHL experience.
The 23-year-old Peterka is coming off consecutive 25-plus goal seasons, including 27 this year with a career-best 68 points in 77 games.
Doan, a 23-year-old winger, is the son of longtime Arizona Coyotes star Shane Doan, and his departure is the organization’s latest move that separates this Salt Lake City chapter from the past. He had seven goals and 19 points last season as a rookie.
Kesselring, a 25-year-old defenseman, played alongside Doan for the U.S. when it won the world championships in May for the first time since 1933. He completed his second full NHL season with seven goals and 29 points — both career highs.
“One of our priorities as we work through this offseason is making our team more competitive and tougher to play against,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said. “The additions of Michael and Josh will help us tremendously in both of those categories.”
Kesserling is listed at 6-foot-5, with Doan listed at 6-2.
The Sabres were expected to shake up their roster after a disappointing finish in Lindy Ruff’s first season and second stint as coach. Buffalo finished 14th in the Eastern Conference standings and extended its NHL-record playoff drought to a 14th season.
The Mammoth, meantime, acquire a promising offensive star while keeping their No. 4 pick in the NHL draft Friday night. Utah made a late-season playoff push before falling short in finishing 11th in the Western Conference.
“J.J. is a highly skilled, creative, young forward with extremely high upside,” Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong said. “He will help solidify our scoring and add to what is already a great young core of forwards on the roster."
Peterka is from Germany and was selected in the second round of the 2020 draft, and made his Sabres debut in in 2021-22. In 2023-24, He scored a career-best 28 goals. Overall, he has 67 goals and 150 points in 238 games.
Despite his developing skills, Peterka became the subject of trade talk for much of the past month.
On Tuesday, Adams declined to address the rumors, and whether Peterka had requested a trade, by saying it wasn't the right time to get into that, and wouldn't be fair to the player. He then hinted of a potential trade by adding: “I can probably, after the draft and when we have other conversations, get into more specifics on things.”
Adams is on the hotseat entering his sixth season, and is expected to make more moves, with defenseman Bowen Byram a potential trade candidate.
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FILE - Utah Hockey Club right wing Josh Doan (91) carries the puck away from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson (43) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, March 12, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Alex Goodlett, File)
FILE - Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring (7) skates the puck around the defense of Winnipeg Jets center Morgan Barron (36) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, April 5, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate, File)
FILE - Buffalo Sabres right wing JJ Peterka (77) chases the puck past Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, March 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.
The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.
The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”
Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”
Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”
Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”
The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.
Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.
Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.
The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.
“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”
For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.
And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”
Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.
In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.
At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.
The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”
Barrow reported from Atlanta.
People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
