Olli Määttä is Ready (Orpik Believes, Ignore Lying Burg Media Swine)

[Sideline]

It's early in the season and he's played sheltered minutes against teams that probably wont be making deep playoff runs, but Määttä has been so smooth. He's solid positionally, has a good breakout pass, and the best guy the Pens have had on the point this year.

I'm reminded of Staal in his first season where he was just too good to justify sending him back.

Thoughts?

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[Frederick Stanley]

On basically any other team he'd stay in the NHL, but the Pens have enough depth on defense.
Give him one more year and he should be 100% ready.

 

[Jacob]

Almost.

 

[JTG]

Can he play in the NHL right now? Yes. Is he as prepared as he could be? I don't think so. We're sort of in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario here. He needs to be in the AHL, but he can't be in the AHL. I'm also not in the camp where Maatta just needs to get used to the speed of the game. I still think he can gain some strength, I still think he can gain some speed.

I also think at this stage in his development, it's very, very important for him to play hockey...not bottom pair mins, mainly for his offensive game. That's the biggest thing for me, and what I see he could gain from going back to Jr. Let him continue to build offensive confidence. That's really the only question mark about the guy's long term potential. Does he have what it takes to be a big point producer?

 

[KIRK]

Two questions:

If Maatta stayed up, then would he be a better defenseman than Niskanen by the time the playoffs roll around?

Would Niskanen-Borts or Maatta-Borts be the better pairing by the time the playoffs roll around?

 

[billybudd]

Maata is ready, imo. Don't know if he's physically ready for the grind of an 82 game season, but sizewise, skillwise, brainwise, he's there. He's not a junior player at this point and probably too advanced for the ahl.

 

[KIRK]

Maata is ready, imo. Don't know if he's physically ready for the grind of an 82 game season, but sizewise, skillwise, brainwise, he's there. He's not a junior player at this point and probably too advanced for the ahl.

He's no less physically ready than Marc Eduoard Vlasic was at 18, and that kid played 22 minutes a night.

 

[Fordy]

Yes.

 

[JTG]

Yeah, size wise he's ready. I can still gain in certain aspects of his game. I would like to see him going back to Jr to gain some more offensive confidence. No reason to rush him along at this point in time because we really don't have to.

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

IMHO yes he is and one of the biggest reasons I say yes is because the couple times a game he goofs up his recovery and speed to make up for the blunder is second to none.

He is young, fast, and a great skater where even when there is a blunder he is able to very quickly out hassle the opposing player and make up for his mistake right away and he has the smarts and confidence in himself and his game.

Super impressed with him so far and the little bit of point work I have seen his do on the PP has really impressed me. His blue line lateral skating has been impressive and silky really reminds me of Gonch.

He is going to be something special FO SHO!

 

[KIRK]

Yeah, size wise he's ready. I can still gain in certain aspects of his game. I would like to see him going back to Jr to gain some more offensive confidence. No reason to rush him along at this point in time because we really don't have to.

I'm not sure he gets that confidence in juniors as much as he'd get and develop it learning against NHL players (making mistakes, learning from them, making great plays, etc). If what we're seeing is Maatta playing without full confidence, then I shudder to think what Maatta playing with full confidence will be.

 

[Ogrezilla]

yes he is

 

[penguins2946*]

On every other team, it wouldn't be a question. However, on the Pens, who have a metric assload of NHL ready D, he's not. I don't think his skill is a question, he's definitely a NHL calibre D. However, I don't think he sticks. This isn't like the Staal situation from 2006. Pens weren't deep in C then, but are very deep in D now. I hope he proves me wrong, but I'm not expecting much.

 

[Rectify]

He could play in the NHL right now, yes.

I want to see him go back to London and fill into his frame a bit more. Keep him playing big minutes for his junior team and gain more confidence. You can definitely see, even at his age, that he has all the tools to be great, which is pretty unbelievable.

 

[JTG]

I'm not sure he gets that confidence in juniors as much as he'd get and develop it learning against NHL players (making mistakes, learning from them, making great plays, etc). If what we're seeing is Maatta playing without full confidence, then I shudder to think what Maatta playing with full confidence will be.

A player doesn't gain offensive confidence the same way they do other facets of the game. There is a use in keeping him at the NHL level because there are some things that he's better served being with the big squad while working on those skills. Offensive game is not one of them. He's going to gain offensive confidence by being the guy pushing the play from the back end, and the guy being the PPQB for his team, and having pucks go through him when he's on the ice. He needs to play 30 mins a game to really round that facet of his game into form. The ice is good for him.

If you take a young player and thrust him into the NHL before his offensive game has rounded out, it could very well slow or even stop his development. I have a strong belief that's what happened with Jordan Staal.

We have absolutely no reason to keep Maatta on the NHL roster with the guys who are currently in the NHL and in the AHL. No reason at all. He'll be back in due time...probably as early as next year. No reason to get impatient. We're not going to win more games because he's here.

 

[Zirakzigil]

He is, but Dan doesn't like it when a young kid with talent tries to take ice time away from a veteran. Him and Despres should both be in the NHL this season.

 

[Jesus Vitale]

off-topic sorta, but i hope that with the Canadiens accommodating Brière with the è on his jersey other NHL teams follow suit and allow diaeresises and stuff. It would be so cool to see Määttä on the back of a Pens' jersey.

 

[penguins2946*]

Maatta gets his first point as a Penguin. My man crush has been intensified.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

He could be a good 3rd pairing defenseman right now. But considering we have Despres waiting around and burning an ELC when we don't need to would be kind of dumb, he hasn't been too good to send back.

 

[Ogrezilla]

He could be a good 3rd pairing defenseman right now. But considering we have Despres waiting around and burning an ELC when we don't need to would be kind of dumb, he hasn't been too good to send back.

keeping Maatta and trading Niskanen doesn't take away from the defensemen depth that Shero likes though, even if it burns contract years from Despres.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

He could be a good 3rd pairing defenseman right now. But considering we have Despres waiting around and burning an ELC when we don't need to would be kind of dumb, he hasn't been too good to send back.

That's the way I see it. He's impressed the hell out of me, but he's not going to offer us enough to burn a year of his ELC on...especially not when he'd be getting 25 minutes a night on a top OHL team that is guaranteed a berth to the Memorial Cup.

 

[ColePens]

This discussion just got real. I might be sold. But we lose a year and possible development.

 

[orby]

Yes, but circumstances dictate that he'll probably have to wait.

 

[Valarukar]

A player doesn't gain offensive confidence the same way they do other facets of the game. There is a use in keeping him at the NHL level because there are some things that he's better served being with the big squad while working on those skills. Offensive game is not one of them. He's going to gain offensive confidence by being the guy pushing the play from the back end, and the guy being the PPQB for his team, and having pucks go through him when he's on the ice. He needs to play 30 mins a game to really round that facet of his game into form. The ice is good for him.

If you take a young player and thrust him into the NHL before his offensive game has rounded out, it could very well slow or even stop his development. I have a strong belief that's what happened with Jordan Staal.

We have absolutely no reason to keep Maatta on the NHL roster with the guys who are currently in the NHL and in the AHL. No reason at all. He'll be back in due time...probably as early as next year. No reason to get impatient. We're not going to win more games because he's here.

Agree with all of this

 

[Ogrezilla]

This discussion just got real. I might be sold. But we lose a year and possible development.

I'm tell you, we need to play him with Scuds. See what he can do against better opponents. Don't shelter him for a period. If he does well, do it for a game. See what he does with the chance. You can bump him right back to the 3rd pairing after, but that will help show if he's physically ready to be here yet imo. See if he can hold up for 20 unsheltered minutes a night.