Confirmed with Link: Kings Acquire Olli Maatta from Blackhawks In Exchange for Forward Brad Morrison

[Reaper45]

He is a warm body to keep the kids insulated. I'm not expecting anything from him other than for him to keep getting torched to the outside.

 

[Telos]

Wow, didn't expect Blake to get his player without giving up anything. Good move.

 

[DAkings20]

Nobody can be upset about this, nice pickup with no cost going back

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Too hip, gotta go.

 

[The Lukeman]

Was fully expecting LA to give up one of the 3 second round picks to acquire a top 4 serviceable defenseman. I did not expect a trade like this. Feels like a win-win. Chicago gets rid of cap space and a player they weren't too high on. LA gets a bridge player who can play top 4 minutes and can be exposed in the expansion.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

meet your new whipping boy!

Given that we’ve endured Jamie McBain, Randy Jones, Keaton Ellerby, Christian Ehrhoff, Rob Scuderi (on his second run), Oscar Fantenberg all occupying that role in previous years, a season or two of Maatta isn’t going to make or break the Kings.

He’s here to buy time, without having to overspend on a UFA or lose any significant assets. I don’t know what your expectations are.

 

[Kingspiracy]

Olli Maatta scouting report: Strengths, weaknesses and what he’ll bring to Blackhawks

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Too hip, gotta go.

The Kings acquired Poochie?

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Congrats from Hawks fans.
FFFFF****** Stan Bowman sucks

 

[Legionnaire]

Cali Maatta.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Checks off all the boxes except the top pairing one. Gave up nothing, got salary retained, short contract, low risk medium reward, NHL games for the roster, expose-able in expansion.

Määttä is a quality top 4 guy, who can (if played, given correct role) contribute offensively as well, to top his quality defending.
Its just for Pittsburgh, he was not given any chance to to even try to play offensive game. (minus one season)

 

[Telos]

I feel like this is a bigger deal than just the standard take on the disgraced ex-touted first-rounder. I think Maatta looked pretty good with the Hawks. I think he will play well with our youth and speed. This will either fizzle into like an Ellerby kind of acquisition, but there is a chance here that this could be a steal.

 

[kingsfan28]

Not really, he was huge in juniors, never really took another step, had some good AHL numbers but finished in the ECHL.

So we can expect someone in this forum to say how Blake knows nothing when they traded him because he's scored 5 goals in 60 games with the Hawks?

 

[kingsfan28]

Määttä is a quality top 4 guy, who can (if played, given correct role) contribute offensively as well, to top his quality defending.
Its just for Pittsburgh, he was not given any chance to to even try to play offensive game. (minus one season)

I thought he was always the guy getting hurt in Pitt?

 

[CanadianKingsFan14]

Like the trade by the Kings. Does this mean there done trading or will they make another move?

 

[kingsfan28]

Wow, didn't expect Blake to get his player without giving up anything. Good move.

I'm sure [pure speculation] they told Boston to pound sand when they asked for our high second for the rights to Krug.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

The Kings acquired Poochie?

No, referencing Frazier Smith.

 

[AzKing]

I hate it. Pretty clear signal to the team that we're fine with another loser year -- can't wait to see DD excitedly waddling into camp.

So this deal that has absolutely no downside to it signals that the Kings are fine with being a loser? This is how you get things done without giving up assets and also using your cap space the right way.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this deal. There is no quick fix to just becoming a contender.

 

[Legionnaire]

You guess is as good as anyone's. I think filling a top for vet d role was a big need. I think now, it really depends on who is available.

 

[KingsHockey24]

I like this move.

 

[HookKing]

Given that we’ve endured Jamie McBain, Randy Jones, Keaton Ellerby, Christian Ehrhoff, Rob Scuderi (on his second run), Oscar Fantenberg all occupying that role in previous years, a season or two of Maatta isn’t going to make or break the Kings.

He’s here to buy time, without having to overspend on a UFA or lose any significant assets. I don’t know what your expectations are.

My expectation is that Blake finds someone to play with DD. Maata is a bottom pairing guy that skates poorly. Why waste cap space with all these teams out there in cap trouble. Kings do not need to "buy time". Why help a team we should be competing with for a wild card spot.

 

[funky]

My expectation is that Blake finds someone to play with DD. Maata is a bottom pairing guy that skates poorly. Why waste cap space with all these teams out there in cap trouble. Kings do not need to "buy time". Why help a team we should be competing with for a wild card spot.

I look at him as a guy that can be paired up with Wagner and play more of the defensive role.

I see your bottom two pairings of defenseman receiving roughly the same amount of playing time. I think in that type of role he will do OK

It is also another healthy body that can play the game that may allow Blake the opportunity to trade one of our kids for a top hearing left-handed Dman like Sergachev

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

My expectation is that Blake finds someone to play with DD. Maata is a bottom pairing guy that skates poorly. Why waste cap space with all these teams out there in cap trouble. Kings do not need to "buy time". Why help a team we should be competing with for a wild card spot.

Given the names that were linked to LA, like Edmundson, this move matches up with that type of dman. Bjornfot, Anderson and Clague (and possibly others) are being groomed to be that future top 3-4 dman. They weren’t getting that in free agency, nor are they going to be able to get a Sergachev like defenseman, which is a pipe dream

 

[Inner Turbulence]

My expectation is that Blake finds someone to play with DD. Maata is a bottom pairing guy that skates poorly. Why waste cap space with all these teams out there in cap trouble. Kings do not need to "buy time". Why help a team we should be competing with for a wild card spot.

Maatta is not a "bottom pairing guy" on this Kings team. Come on. He's a smart steady supporting guy who can also put up a few points. At 26 he has played 6 full seasons in the NHL. Compare that to our other 25-26 year olds on the blue line.

This guy will help the team. AT WORST he is a roster-filler until he can be exposed a year from now at expansion. Something I believe the Kings don't currently have (that they want to expose).

 

[Nodoughtyboutit]

Ok I'm liking this. I think the key is the expansion draft. If we went big on 2 LDs we would be losing a good player in the expansion draft. Hopefully he can mesh with Roy or Walker and be a decent #4 and next year he either gets taken or is a decent 5/6