Confirmed with Link: Olli Maatta for Kahun and a 5th

[ColdSteel2]

If he wanted CDH specifically why would he wait?

That seems like what his thought process was, wonder why he didn’t want him last year.

Because maybe the Blackhawks know a bit more than me and you do about his injuries? From everything I’ve heard CDH is thinking he’s got a decent shot to be at camp.

He’s a top 4 defender who’s good in his own end. That’s exactly what we needed and we acquired him without giving up any valuable assets. You make that trade 11 times out of 10 if you feel even OK about his health. There’s no guarantee a trade close to this good would have been available had he waited.

Yeah, I hear you. I am just surprised he chose to take on so much risk with the 3 trades he made. The offseason has a long way to go. He must be extremely confident his moves will pay off to act so quickly. Looking at the cap situations around the league, there should be some pretty great trade opportunities for teams that have cap space available.

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

If he waited and his first choices were gone and nothing else realistic materialized people would be blaming Stan for sitting on his hands and bringing back the same defense. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

Having questions about Maata/CDH is fine, but this team DESPERATELY needed at least two more defenseman who could actually defend. Stan’s banking on those two plugging the holes as well as Lehner giving us stability in net.

Nothing to do but wait and see. Or call each other idiots over the internet.

 

[piteus]

That seems like what his thought process was, wonder why he didn’t want him last year.



Yeah, I hear you. I am just surprised he chose to take on so much risk with the 3 trades he made. The offseason has a long way to go. He must be extremely confident his moves will pay off to act so quickly. Looking at the cap situations around the league, there should be some pretty great trade opportunities for teams that have cap space available.

Although the risk / reward was a good from both Maatta and de Haan (imo), it's obvious Seabrook's $6.8mn cap hit had an impact on Stan's strategy. We needed a quick fix on the blueline. With Keith, Seabrook, and Murphy, Stan couldn't afford to add another $15mn for a pair of top 4 DMen. Thus, he's taking a swing at Maatta and de Haan. They are in the discount bin for a reason. Thankfully, Maatta's buyout is almost nothing.

Let's hope the Hawks medical staff has a banner season too.

 

[hawksrule]

Which begs the question, considering the fact that so many teams were "cap strapped" did Stan jump the gun?

To beg the question doesn’t mean what you think it does. Not saying that to pick on you, it’s a common mistake.

 

[ColdSteel2]

To beg the question doesn’t mean what you think it does. Not saying that to pick on you, it’s a common mistake.

I mean, it is an obvious topic to talk about. People get defensive about critiquing the moves so it’s easier to just not say anything non-positive about them.

 

[KWP]

"... I don’t understand why there was so much urgency to acquire him when they did given his injury history.

Not a Bowman jr guy but trying to consider the Hawk GM's motive / plan ... I think he was trying to get in before "the market" set contract prices higher. Can understand it on that level.

I'm not sold on either Maata or deHaan tho would like nothing more than to be proven wrong.
deHaan's multiple shoulder surgeries; Maata's lack of foot speed and of course his unfortunate cancer occurrence (Is there a "fortunate occurrence"?)

Lehner's drugs/alcohol history too - I think Darling's curious case in CAR might include a relapse (tho no evidence of it so not cool to imply & I'm not trying to just sayin' is what it is & Lehner too.)

An interesting off season so far for sure & time will tell ...
GoHawks

PS - For that matter I'm not sold on Colliton yet or his assistants either - the PK did NOT improve under him & Brookbank? I just can't see Seabrook or Keith listening to anything the guy says. Maybe the rooks but if they see vets not buying in, they might follow suit.

HA. My opinion & 25 cents will get you a quarter dollar.

 

[Jyssy]

Bulls have Markkanen who is from Jyväskylä. Hawks now have Määttä who is from here. I have a friend who throws a pretty mean fastball, maybe the Cubs or White Sox could check him out.

 

[Riptide]

Curious how after the first month of the season how Maatta has looked for CHI?

 

[BK]

Curious how after the first month of the season how Maatta has looked for CHI?

He has been good. Healthy.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Curious how after the first month of the season how Maatta has looked for CHI?

Been very good. Speed/skating have not been an issue at all. Not sure where this narrative ever came from, honestly, with the way he has looked. His positioning is outstanding, and he's physical. Basically, he's been a very good top 4 D.

 

[Styles]

Curious how after the first month of the season how Maatta has looked for CHI?

Carrying around the corpse of Brent Seabrook is hard work but Maatta has been fine. I doubt you’ll find anyone here that would reverse the trade. What about Kahun?

 

[Riptide]

Been very good. Speed/skating have not been an issue at all. Not sure where this narrative ever came from, honestly, with the way he has looked. His positioning is outstanding, and he's physical. Basically, he's been a very good top 4 D.

I haven't seen a game of his this year, but I doubt much has changed. That said, it was always something that was really overblown. His turns and first step is weak/bad - that's it. His overall speed is decent but not great, but as long as he's not constantly asked to pinch/jump in to keep pucks in the OZ and then cover for his partner when it goes wrong (much of the case in PIT), it's not really a big deal. Basically as long as he's allowed to play his game his IQ almost always makes up for whatever skating issues he has. You'll still see the odd time someone will blow by him, but it's far rarer then what people bitch about.

Happy that he seems to be doing well.

 

[Riptide]

Carrying around the corpse of Brent Seabrook is hard work but Maatta has been fine. I doubt you’ll find anyone here that would reverse the trade. What about Kahun?

Camp, preseason and the first few games were disappointing, however he's picked it up a lot since then. But he's in tough given that he needs to fight just for 3rd line minutes as Pittsburgh has a lot of forward depth. Injuries to others (Malkin, Bjugstad, Gally and Rust) have helped him out in terms of getting a chance higher up in the lineup, but while he's looked good... he's still leaving us wanting more out of him. It wouldn't surprise me if he ended up as trade bait due to how he's performing when buried in the lineup. But it's early so far... so we'll see how it goes.

 

[Hawkaholic]

I personally wouldn't say he has been very good, but he is certainly a decent top 4 D for us. Rather happy with the trade at this point.

 

[Gurglesons]

Kahun has been great for us after a rough start. How has Maatta been?

 

[CallMeShaft]

Kahun has been great for us after a rough start. How has Maatta been?

Solid. His speed hasn't been much of an issue and he and De Haan have steadied what was arguably the worst defensive group last year.

He did get a few weeks with Seabrook where his advanced stats went into the toilet, but there isn't a player here who can prop Seabs into solid possession numbers.

 

[coolhand]

Camp, preseason and the first few games were disappointing, however he's picked it up a lot since then. But he's in tough given that he needs to fight just for 3rd line minutes as Pittsburgh has a lot of forward depth. Injuries to others (Malkin, Bjugstad, Gally and Rust) have helped him out in terms of getting a chance higher up in the lineup, but while he's looked good... he's still leaving us wanting more out of him. It wouldn't surprise me if he ended up as trade bait due to how he's performing when buried in the lineup. But it's early so far... so we'll see how it goes.

Hawk fans felt the same about Kahun. Shows a lot of promise and skill but doesn't seem to translate in the games. He just disappears.

 

[JaegerDice]

Maata isn't actively hurting the Blackhawks, but it's almost impossible to tell if he's helping them anymore than a cheaper option could because the system is/was so bad thus far this season.

They're 3rd worst in the league for CF%, worst in the league for SF%, 3rd worst for xGF%, 3rd worst for SCF%, and 3rd worst for HDCF%.

Would they be WORSE without Maata? I guess... possibly... at least in 3 of those categories.

They've certainly seemed better of late, so maybe those numbers are misleading, I just think it's impossible to tell how much Maata is actually helping the team at this point given the system they've been using.


He's less offensive than I thought he'd be, so I'll take the mia culpa on that. And if nothing else, he's better than Brent Seabrook.

 

[Section88]

Maata isn't actively hurting the Blackhawks, but it's almost impossible to tell if he's helping them anymore than a cheaper option could because the system is/was so bad thus far this season.

They're 3rd worst in the league for CF%, worst in the league for SF%, 3rd worst for xGF%, 3rd worst for SCF%, and 3rd worst for HDCF%.

Would they be WORSE without Maata? I guess... possibly... at least in 3 of those categories.

They've certainly seemed better of late, so maybe those numbers are misleading, I just think it's impossible to tell how much Maata is actually helping the team at this point given the system they've been using.


He's less offensive than I thought he'd be, so I'll take the mia culpa on that. And if nothing else, he's better than Brent Seabrook.

In terms of the eye test i think he looks like a good #4 pretty much every night. The numbers are definitely misleading with all the time he spent with Seabs.

I see him as practically another murphy on the left side. Wont provide much offense but wont give up much either, steady as hell. Outlet passes have been pretty good as well.

 

[bwana63]

Maatta is far from the liability that some were painting him as.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Injuries and that cancer (or what ever it was) has influenced greatly in becoming a player what he is today.
- one can only imagine what he could of become

A lot of fans seem to forget that he had more than just fine rookie season as a 19 year old in the NHL,
almost 10 goals (9) and 33 points for Penguins, was ppg (3+3) for team Finland in the Olympics that same season with the bronze medal....then **** happened and then more **** happened

I remember that they were hyping/drooling like crazy in Pittsburgh over Olli Määttä during and after his rookie season
(BTW. he started his sophomore season really well; first 8 games, 1+6=7 ->
10 points in 20 games in that season, before it ended, was paced for 40+ points)

Can't forget, he had a surprisingly good 2017 play-offs + scored 3 goals, 6 assists, 12 penalty minutes and was +8

Had his first (and only) ever full season of 82 games next season, had a relatively impressive season, offensively,
especially with to his injuries and other things history, scored 7 goals and 31 points in all competitions (2 assists in the play-offs).

 

[Hawkaholic]

Reminds me a bit of Oduya in 2015. Not great, but with a solid partner can be a top 4 Dman who can chip in the odd time offensively. Don't notice him a whole lot, and does make the odd mistake, but is a solid guy you can run out there for 20mins if need be.

 

[pvr]

I don’t see any downside to this trade at all.

 

[The Old Master]

great to hear about maatta. he's a good guy, liked him. was a poor fit in the burgh more than anything else. not the guy you want to play Chinese fire drill hockey. put him in a more controlled system he would be great. imo

 

[LDF]

great to hear about maatta. he's a good guy, liked him. was a poor fit in the burgh more than anything else. not the guy you want to play Chinese fire drill hockey. put him in a more controlled system he would be great. imo

in the last game, yeah i only watch 1 period but he stood out on defense. i need to maybe change my opinion on acquiring him.