Olli Maatta Could be a Integral Part to the Red Wings Long-Term Plans

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The Detroit Red Wings signed left-handed defenseman, Oli Maatta this off-season. Little did they know that he may end up their long-term answer.

The Detroit Red Wings, to nobody’s surprise were busy this off-season. After six years of not making the playoffs, and the Red Wings having the prospect depth, it felt like a turnaround was right around the corner. And as it turns out, “Right around the corner” was this off-season.

If the Red Wings wanted to compete and begin making a run towards the playoffs, there were a couple things that needed to be addressed. First things first, they needed to do something about the coaching staff.

Going into the off-season, I think it’s safe to say that we have all seen enough of Jeff Blashill. As bad as that sounds, it’s true. The Red Wings needed a new coach, and that’s exactly what they did.

Shortly after the playoffs had ended, the Red Wings organization announced they were hiring Derek Lalonde. And that’s when the madness started.

After the hiring of Lalonde, they began preparing for the NHL draft in which they drafted center, Marco Kasper with the eighth overall pick. Afterwards, they then traded for goalie, Ville Husso from the St. Louis Blues. And then, they hit the ground running in the free agency market.

Having signed multiple forwards to help improve their depth and goal scoring, the Red Wings checked off one box. The second box they needed to check off was obtaining a left-handed defenseman that could hang with Moritz Seider while Simon Edvinsson develops in the AHL.

Knowing that, Yzerman signed Ben Chiarot to a 4-year deal to make sure that the Red Wings had a veteran defenseman to help keep Seider in proper position. Furthermore, the Red Wings also signed defenseman, Olli Maatta.

Now, I’ll be honest with you all, I wasn’t crazy about that signing. Like, at all. I thought it was a pointless signing because even if Edvinsson was deemed “not ready”, they still had Johansson and Wallinder who could potentially be ready as well. Looking back at that now, I was wrong. Because not only do I feel that the Maatta signing was good, but I think he could potentially be the long-term solution.

Olli Maatta. (Photo by Jared Silber/Getty Images) /

Olli Maatta is the Red Wings Long-Term Answer

Well, what’s there left to say other than “wow”. So far this season, I’ve found myself repeating that word quite often. More times than not it’s been to describe left-handed defenseman, Olli Maatta’s play.

So far this season, Maatta has played in three games for the Red Wings. And somehow, someway, he’s putting up numbers that we expect from players like Cale Makar, Roman Josi, Victor Hedman and Adam Fox.

In those three games for the Red Wings, Maatta has recorded one goal and three assists for a total of four points. But of course, you can’t forget the defensive statistics.

So although the four points in three games is a incredible stat. He is a defenseman which means we have to take into consideration of what his +/- is. And in this case, it’s respectable. To go along with the four points, he also has a +3. Additionally, the Red Wings defenseman has seven blocks, two hits and three takeaways.

Now, as you all know, stats can be misleading on ones play. For example, when Michael Bunting plays on a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, it’s pretty easy for him to get points. But, there is something behind the lines that we should consider with Maatta- Is he the Red Wings long-term answer?

When the Red Wings signed Ben Chiarot, it was to give Seider a counterpart who can play on both ends of the ice. However, looking at how things have gone for Maatta and Chiarot, I’m beginning to think that Maatta may be the counterpart for Seider.

Moritz Seider is one of the best defenseman in the league, or if that’s too rich for your taste, he’s at least got to be one of the best young defenseman in the league. Can we agree on that? Okay, good.

Seider is coming off a Calder winning season in which he scored seven goals, 43 assists for a total of 50 points in his rookie season. To me, that speaks to the type of player he really is. How many rookies can put up 50 points in their first season? Little lone a defenseman. It’s impressive. However, we needed a counterpart for him and Maatta is showing that he could be that.

With Seider being a very good offensive defenseman, and an improving defensive player, it feels to me like they should be trying to get a guy who can match him. And no offense to Chiarot, but I’d say that Maatta complements Seiders talent a little bit better.

Now, I know all of this is premature because for all we know Maatta may not put up another point all year long. However, we have to recognize just how good he’s been on the ice so far.

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