BUFFALO, NY. (WKBW) — Early Thursday morning, the Buffalo Sabres traded forward JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth for defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Josh Doan.
Kesselring and Doan spoke to reporters Thursday afternoon for the first time as members of the Sabres organization.
WATCH: Buffalo Sabres welcome Michael Kesselring, Josh Doan after trade with Utah Mammoth
"Crazy, I got the call around midnight last night," Kesselring said. "A wave of emotions and shock, and then regular routine this morning. I got up at 6:30 to go skate and stuff, but then this morning that turned into a lot of excitement."
One thing is for certain with Kesselring, and that's the fact that he'll have some pretty familiar faces around him here in the Sabres organization. His college teammate Devon Levi was ironically in net back in December of 2023 when he scored his first career NHL goal as a member of the Arizona Coyotes.
He also spent this summer playing with Tage Thompson on Team USA as they won the gold medal at the IIHF World Championships. Kesselring added that experience helped him not only level up his game on the ice but also his desire to play in more "high-pressure" contests in the future with his new team.
"Worlds fueled the fire to play in big games like that," he said. "This year, I had a little bigger part in that, and just the pressure of those games, every shift counts, every puck touch counts. And I think that experience will be good for me."
Kesselring is no stranger to moving around in his NHL career, but this time around, he'll do so knowing his teammate Josh Doan will follow him in this new endeavor.
"Kess and I are really close, and he's someone I'll always lean on when things happen," Doan said. "So to go into this together is something really cool."
The two will live together in Buffalo under the same roof as Michael's two cats, Socks and Ranger, and Josh's dog, Hank.
Doan said he and Kesselring have a drive to be pieces to the complex puzzle to help the Buffalo Sabres snap their playoff drought and become contenders.
"As a duo, we have to wear it as a badge of honor to help this group win," Doan said. "It's one of those things where we're not going to come in and be saviors, but we can come in and help this team win anyway we can."
