Utah has acquired defenseman Olli Maatta from the Purple Wings in a late-night commerce, the team announced. The Hockey Membership is sending a 2025 third-round choose, beforehand acquired from the Rangers, to Detroit to finish the deal.
It’s no shock to see the first-year franchise swing a deal for a defenseman. They’ll be with out a pair of top-four defenders, Sean Durzi and John Marino, for a lot of the season after they both underwent surgeries prior to now couple of weeks.
Durzi might miss the remainder of the common season after having a process to restore his proper shoulder, whereas Marino will probably be out till the 4 Nations Face-Off in February whereas recovering from decrease again surgical procedure.
Preliminary reviews urged Utah would probably lean on inside options to fill the void. They recalled 2022 first-round choose Maveric Lamoureux from AHL Tucson and have gotten strong hockey out of 24-year-old Michael Kesselring, who’s now averaging over 20 minutes per evening and has 5 factors and a team-leading +5 score by way of 10 video games.
However losses have stored piling up for Utah, who stay at .500 with a 4-4-2 report after yesterday’s third-period collapse to the Sharks, which resulted in a 5-4 additional time defeat. A report from Pierre LeBrun of TSN final week urged Utah had at the least checked in on the supply of Blue Jackets defender Ivan Provorov, however they’ll find yourself netting a less expensive participant in Määttä when it comes to each contract and acquisition value.
Maatta, 30, is within the second yr of a two-year, $6M extension he signed with the Wings in 2023. The Finnish stay-at-home defender has known as Detroit dwelling since signing there as a free agent in 2022. He’s inexplicably been pushed down the lineup in latest days, sitting as a wholesome scratch in two of the Wings’ final 4 video games regardless of controlling 57.8% of anticipated targets when he’s on the ice at even power.
That quantity jumps out in an enormous means on a Detroit staff that’s once more struggled to take care of possession at 5-on-5 this yr, controlling 42.5% of shot makes an attempt, 43.7% of scoring probabilities, and 41.9% of high-danger probabilities. He’d but to get on the scoresheet this season and was averaging a career-low 15:52 per sport, however his 44.4 CF% was second amongst Wings defenders solely to Simon Edvinsson.
Detroit’s loss is Utah’s acquire. Maatta ought to submit higher outcomes on a Utah membership that’s truly been one of many league’s higher 5-on-5 groups this season regardless of their roller-coaster report. He’s a left-shot however has performed on the best facet ceaselessly all through his 12-year NHL profession, a activity he’ll probably be requested to copy in Salt Lake Metropolis.
Whether or not he instantly steps right into a top-four function with Durzi and Marino out stays to be seen, however on the very least, he’s a demonstrable improve on both of their present third-pairing choices, Robert Bortuzzo and Vladislav Kolyachonok. He had 18 factors and a +14 score in 72 appearances for Detroit final season.
For the Wings, it’s the second time in just a few months that normal supervisor Steve Yzerman has traded away one of many more practical defenders on a blue line that has struggled to stop high quality scoring probabilities.
He dealt Jake Walman to the Sharks in a considerably comparable cap-dump transfer again in June, though that transaction required him to dump a second-round choose to get San Jose to take his complete contract. He’s at the least receiving an asset again for Maatta right here with no wage retention, but it surely’s nonetheless a puzzling transfer for a staff seeking to push for a playoff spot.
Detroit does at the least unencumber a roster spot and a good quantity of cap area with the transfer. They now have a cushty $3.58M in present cap area, per PuckPedia. The flurry of paper transactions to preserve cap area and juggle a full roster ought to now settle down, and the Purple Wings do have way more in-season maneuverability to maybe tackle different roster weaknesses in a more cost effective method.
