Value of: Four Penguins Moves (CAR, MTL, OTT, TOR.)

[Captain Mountain]

He's an atrocious fit for the system the Penguins play and the team outright needs to move him because it's become a bad situation for both sides.

I still think Olli Määttä is a solid #4 as long as he's not in a system based on the breakout. When the play is in front of him he's generally very good...but the Pens system is heavy on defensemen pinching, which can result in footraces that he just can't win.

He also was coming back from an injury right before the playoffs started, which certainly didn't help things.

Määttä strikes me as one of those guys that GMs and coaches value significantly higher than fans do. The good stuff in his game is generally pretty simple and unappreciated in its banality, but his negatives have a tendency to get him on the wrong side of highlight reel plays. He certainly won't fetch anything major in a trade, but he also definitely isn't a dump.

All this is why Maatta is a terrible fit for Montreal. They're paying Alzner to play in the AHL for much the same reason.

I don't doubt that Maatta still has value, but I'd be shocked if Montreal was the team to acquire him.

 

[Toby Flenderson]

Not a fan of any of these to be honest. The Hornqvist one is alright but Canes won’t do it. No chance in hell we trade away a 1st with Johnson. Jarry for Brown is alright but that’s only if we trade away Kessel and don’t get a RW in return.

Johnson is honestly fine on the bottom pair I think. It’s Maatta and Gudbranson that need to be moved, they take up 8+ million and neither are fast enough.

Dumo-Letang
?-Schultz
Johnson-?


I’m hoping the Pens draft a D with our 1st and he can jump in our top 4

 

[Big McLargehuge]

All this is why Maatta is a terrible fit for Montreal. They're paying Alzner to play in the AHL for much the same reason.

I don't doubt that Maatta still has value, but I'd be shocked if Montreal was the team to acquire him.

Completely fair, I don't think he makes sense for the Habs either. I just wanted to reiterate that just because a fan base tends to scapegoat a guy doesn't mean that player is inherently terrible.

It is so easy to forget that he's still only 24. Määttä experienced an entire career's worth of drama before his 23rd birthday, so I guess it makes at least a little sense that people treat him like an old vet with nowhere to go but down when he isn't even old enough to rent a car yet.

I just don’t see how he’s a better fit on Habs system, which is mostly speed and fast transition. Maatta sucks at both

I wasn't arguing in favor of that, merely responding to comments regarding Määttä's quality and/or value. Montreal would indeed be a poor fit for him.

 

[Baksfamous112]

He's an atrocious fit for the system the Penguins play and the team outright needs to move him because it's become a bad situation for both sides. Määttä has been an awkward fit with Sullivan's system from the start, but it kept working somehow those first couple years...but now that the team has too many defensemen making similar money it just makes too much sense not to trade the awkward fit.

I still think Olli Määttä is a solid #4 as long as he's not in a system based on the breakout. When the play is in front of him he's generally very good...but the Pens system is heavy on defensemen pinching, which can result in footraces that he just can't win.

He also was coming back from an injury right before the playoffs started, which certainly didn't help things.

Määttä strikes me as one of those guys that GMs and coaches value significantly higher than fans do. The good stuff in his game is generally pretty simple and unappreciated in its banality, but his negatives have a tendency to get him on the wrong side of highlight reel plays. He certainly won't fetch anything major in a trade, but he also definitely isn't a dump.

I just don’t see how he’s a better fit on Habs system, which is mostly speed and fast transition. Maatta sucks at both

 

[Toby Flenderson]

Maatta’s game I think is better suited for a team in the West and one that doesn’t rely on speed as much. Kings, Ducks, Coyotes, Blues come to mind but most of them are set on LHD

 

[Cynick]

I'd do the Ottawa trade easily.

 

[BurgoShark]

I think eating Jack Johnson's contract for another 4 years might be worth more than a first, but the bigger issue is that Ottawa is taking on a lot of real money without any going the other way, which is probably a no go for Melnyk.

In real money JJ is $12.25m remaining. Ottawa considers this if they can send some dead money back.

E.g. Condon and Boedker make $7m combined next year on 1 year deals. 4 years of JJ for the $5.25m changeover is very reasonable.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

Maatta certainly has some value on the market, he won't be a cap dump. Penguins don't really have too many more assets to be ridding away of any other bad contracts.

Maata has zero value. He is too slow for the Habs style of play. We learned our lesson with Alzner. We need mobile dmen. MB got burned with Alzner and won’t make that mistake again.

 

[Junohockeyfan]

I believe that poll was interpreted as worse relative to expectations. That's why Maatta won the poll. It's also pretty faulty to take the hivemind of what HFBoards thinks as realistic when it comes to player evaluation.



The Penguins aren't weak on top-4 LD with Dumoulin and Pettersson and Sullivan loves Johnson. It's not hard to figure out why Maatta was scratched, he just didn't have a spot. With that being said, he did have a horrendous game 1.

When JJ and Petterson have a spot over Maata - then that shows you how awful Maata really is! Jack Johnson... hahahaha

 

[ahmedou]

Trades:
Olli Maatta to MON for Artturi Lehkonen (RFA rights)

Holly nope...

 

[Junohockeyfan]

I would like to see the Habs go after Fowler or Brodie - although Brodie appears to be playing Rhd... worst case, sign Gardiner. I think Weber can turn Gards into a productive dman.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

I like the Ottawa one, here is my little proposal....

1st + Jack Johnson to Ottawa for 6th rounder

Then

Jack Johnson @ 50% for Ilya Kovalchuk (retired) for 3rd rounder

Sens take on ~8mil in caphit for a total cost of 3.5mil in the next 2 years and then 1.625mil caphit for the 2 years after that at a total cost of 2.625mil (so 7.9m, 7.9m, 1.625m, 1.65m while paying 2m, 1.5m, 1.5m and 1.125m in real salary)

In exchange they get a 1st and a 3rd while also giving up a 6th

Pittsburgh clears an albatross of a contract, and LA gets rid of Kovalchuks giant caphit while getting Johnson at a reasonable 1.625m cap hit, and they give up a 3rd to do so

 

[SEALBound]

Yes
Yes
f***ing Pejorative Slured
No

 

[66-30-33]

Easy pass on the Sens deal. JJ buyout is only like 1M? of dead cap space.

 

[Riptide]

No thanks on the Lehkonen/Maata swap but I would be interested in a cap dump trade like the one with Ottawa

The Johnson cap dump one will not happen. Despite what some bitter fans think, Johnson holds a lot more value then people think. Not enough to get anything decent back, but enough Pittsburgh won't have to pay someone to take him - and certainly not a 1st.

 

[OB5]

Trades:

Olli Maatta to MON for Artturi Lehkonen (RFA rights)

Absolutely effing not.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

I'd do it from leafs POV

 

[Riptide]

I like the Ottawa one, here is my little proposal....

1st + Jack Johnson to Ottawa for 6th rounder

Pittsburgh clears an albatross of a contract, and LA gets rid of Kovalchuks giant caphit while getting Johnson at a reasonable 1.625m cap hit, and they give up a 3rd to do so

Jack Johnson with a 4x3.25m cap hit is about the furthest thing from an "albatross contract".

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Jack Johnson with a 4x3.25m cap hit is about the furthest thing from an "albatross contract".

He's been a healthy scratch under 2 different coaches in the past 2 seasons and he's 32. If he can't stay in the lineup and is getting paid 3.25m long term, what do you call that if not an albatross?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Jack Johnson with a 4x3.25m cap hit is about the furthest thing from an "albatross contract".

That term at least makes it a mollymawk.

 

[Riptide]

That term at least makes it a mollymawk.

The term isn't great... but when you look at how that contract is structured (4m, 3m, 3m, 2.25m), it's not a big deal. Him with a 3.25m cap hit and favorable contract terms means moving him down the line if he can continue playing like he did from Dec onwards isn't a going to be a big deal. His Nov/Oct was pretty rough, but Dec onwards wasn't bad - and certainly not even close to as bad as some have suggested.

He's been a healthy scratch under 2 different coaches in the past 2 seasons and he's 32. If he can't stay in the lineup and is getting paid 3.25m long term, what do you call that if not an albatross?

He played 85 of 86 games this season. "not staying in the lineup" doesn't exactly appear to be an issue for him.

 

[domaug]

i want Johnson the eff off this team, but just giving Ottawa a 1st round pick is an asinine way to do it.

just buy him out and take the L.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

The term isn't great... but when you look at how that contract is structured (4m, 3m, 3m, 2.25m), it's not a big deal. Him with a 3.25m cap hit and favorable contract terms means moving him down the line if he can continue playing like he did from Dec onwards isn't a going to be a big deal. His Nov/Oct was pretty rough, but Dec onwards wasn't bad - and certainly not even close to as bad as some have suggested.



He played 85 of 86 games this season. "not staying in the lineup" doesn't exactly appear to be an issue for him.

If he's healthy scratched two playoffs in a row, it seems to be an issue. Chris Kelly played 82 games for Ottawa the year we went to the Conference Finals but it was pretty clear he wasnt gonna be in every night once the playoffs started. We acquired better forwards, you guys acquired better DMen.

As for his salary, it doesnt really matter for Pittsburgh. What matters is his caphit and IF he isnt gonna be in your top 6 (which he shouldnt be, given Pittsburghs depth), then it is an albatross to play 3.25mil for a DMan who is gonna play in your 7 slot when you are a contender with an older core and are close to the cap

 

[KIRK]

As a Pens fan, I'm not sure why, in this scenario, the Pens wouldn't just buy Johnson out. Then again, JR was dumb enough to sign him to that abomination of a deal and dumber still to go all in defending the signing. So . . .

 

[Mick Jagr]

I am willing to part with anybody not named Sidney to get both Jack Johnson and Olli Maatta off our team. That's how serious this situation has become.