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Olli Maatta

Penguins Notes: Malkin, Kessel, Maatta

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Even in a year in which the Pittsburgh Penguins were swept out of the first round, they somehow are still creating headlines deep into the playoffs. As wild card teams battle for a chance at the Stanley Cup, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is sitting back dissecting what went wrong this year and how to change things for 2019-20. This week’s 31 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman starts out with a discussion of the Penguins, specifically addressing the Evgeni Malkin rumors that have popped up once again. Friedman put it this way:

I did get a call last night from somebody who has heard the rumors, and he thinks that they are not media make-up. He thinks they are legit. Malkin didn’t have a great year. He wasn’t up to Malkin standards. And [this source] is wondering if they’re trying to rattle [Malkin’s] cage a little bit. Just to say, “you know Evgeni, last year wasn’t you. We want you to be you,” and maybe this is a way of doing it. Malkin has a no-movement clause, and the word is he’s at least thinking about would he agree [to waive it]. 

It seems that there have been Malkin trade rumors after every season that didn’t end in a Pittsburgh Stanley Cup, and this year appears to be no different. The important part to note is that no-movement clause however, as the 32-year old center controls his own destiny. Malkin is under contract for three more seasons with a $9.5MM cap hit, and and recorded 72 points in 68 games this season.

Before getting into Malkin, Friedman slips in a note on another Penguins superstar:

The Penguins are contemplating some major changes. I think it is very likely that [Phil] Kessel is traded regardless.

Kessel, 31, has strong trade protection in his contract as well. The former Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs forward submits an eight-team list that he can be traded to, limiting where the Penguins could send him without his blessing. The enigmatic winger had another outstanding offensive season recording 82 points and played in every game for the ninth consecutive year. He has three years left on his current contract, but since the Maple Leafs are still retaining $1.2MM of it he comes with a cap hit of just $6.8MM.

When the conversation turns to the Penguins blue line and the now infamous comments by Rutherford on the strength of his defense right now, the obvious center of discussion is Kris Letang. The offensive defenseman put up 56 points in 65 games this season and is under contract for three more years. Interestingly though it is another Penguins defenseman that Friedman dishes some information on:

I’ve been told that [Olli] Maatta’s trade value is very low. They’ve tried to do that for a while, and it hasn’t gone anywhere. So, we’ll see.

Maatta ended up a healthy scratch in the playoffs this season for the Penguins, and finished with just 14 points on the year. His foot speed has been questioned in the past, but the 24-year old is just a few years removed from signing a six-year, $24.5MM extension after looking like a core piece through the first part of his career. Still, he remains a likely candidate to be moved if the Penguins are really shaking things up this offseason.

Pittsburgh Penguins Will Likely Trade A Defenseman

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The Pittsburgh Penguins were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the New York Islanders, opening the door to plenty of questions surrounding the roster composition moving forward. The team made a few big trades during the season to change the look of their group, sending out names like Derick Brassard, Riley Sheahan, Daniel Sprong, Carl Hagelin and Tanner Pearson at various times. While that ended up with a deep group of defense with plenty of talent, it also now may lead to more deals having to be made this summer.

Speaking with Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Penguins GM Jim Rutherford admitted that the team will likely have to trade a defenseman this summer. In fact, Rutherford told Mackey:

“But it will be difficult to keep all of our defensemen and keep them happy. I’m sure with the amount of teams who are looking for defensemen, we’ll have to move at least one.” 

That may not come as a surprise, given the state of the blue line right now. Six players are currently under one-way contracts for next season, all of them with cap hits of at least Jack Johnson’s $3.25MM. That makes for an expensive group, especially when you consider the fact that Marcus Pettersson, a restricted free agent, deserves a substantial raise after becoming one of the team’s more reliable options.

Mackey suggests that the one skating for a new team come 2019-20 may well be Olli Maatta, who ended up a healthy scratch for three games after his -2 performance in game one. This certainly isn’t the first time that Maatta has been considered a potential trade candidate, in fact his name has surfaced on a consistent basis since signing his six-year, $24.5MM contract in 2016. While the 24-year old defenseman is not a liability, he also hasn’t taken the necessary steps to make him an untouchable on the Pittsburgh roster.

That’s not to say that there wouldn’t be interest in him even with three years and more than $12MM still left on his contract. As Rutherford says, there will be plenty of teams looking for defensive upgrades this summer and he is still a potential top-four option on many of them. His cost certainty may actually be an attractive component to any trade, given his relative youth and the soaring costs of restricted free agents.

The question then becomes whether the Penguins group of defensemen is good enough to compete for a Stanley Cup next season without any other additions. Rutherford seemed to think so when he told reporters including Josh Yohe of The Athletic that this was the best blue line the team has had since he joined them. Rutherford of course joined the Penguins before the 2014-15 season, and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017. Maatta, Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz were part of both titles, while Johnson, Pettersson and Erik Gudbranson were all added in the past year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Svechnikov, Maatta, Fox

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The Detroit Red Wings have found some success with several young forwards this year as they try to move on from the Henrik Zetterberg era and embrace a youth movement, but one that was expected to play a big part was nowhere to be found. Evgeny Svechnikov, selected 19th overall in 2015, was forced to undergo knee surgery to reconstruct his ACL in October. He was expected to return to action near the end of the season, but Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press is now reporting that he will not play at all in 2018-19.

Interestingly, as St. James notes, that may actually be a blessing in disguise for the Red Wings. The young forward will now not be waiver eligible in the 2019-20 season as he was scheduled to be, meaning the team can start him in the AHL right out of training camp if he’s not ready to help the NHL lineup. Svechnikov wouldn’t have maintained his waiver-exempt status if he’d played in even a single professional game—NHL or AHL—this season.

  • Olli Maatta has been activated from injured reserve by the Pittsburgh Penguins and will return after missing 21 games with a lower-body injury. The 24-year old is coming back with just enough time to get his legs under him before the playoffs begin, a huge boost for a Penguins team that has suffered from several injuries on the back end this season. It’s tough to know exactly how much the team will push Maatta over the last few games of the regular season, but he lengthens out the team’s defense group by a considerable amount. Brian Dumoulin switched over to the right side in practice recently to accommodate Maatta’s return, though it’s not clear if that pair will stay together.
  • With Adam Fox and Harvard losing today in the NCAA tournament, we will soon find out what his official decision is regarding signing or returning to school next season. Fox has repeatedly said that his mind is not yet made up, something that Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) also reported earlier today. Though there is obviously a draw to turning pro and getting into the Carolina Hurricanes organization right away, Fox could potentially graduate next year with a Harvard degree and the chance to become an unrestricted free agent in August 2020. LeBrun also explores the idea of Carolina trading Fox’s rights this season instead of waiting for the summer, in order to get full value if they do not believe he will sign with them down the road. If Fox signs this season he would burn the first year of his entry-level deal, and would be eligible for the expansion draft if he played just a single game.

Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Chris Wideman

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Defenseman Chris Wideman is on the move for the third time this season. The impending free agent has been traded by the Florida Panthers to the Pittsburgh Penguins, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds that forward Jean-Sebastien Dea heads the other way to Florida.

Wideman began the season with the Ottawa Senators, but was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in November for a sixth-round pick. After he wasn’t a fit in Edmonton, Wideman was sent to the Florida Panthers as part of the package for Alexander Petrovic. He now joins his fourth team of the season in Pittsburgh, but it may be his best opportunity yet at play time. Having played just six games combined since leaving Ottawa, Wideman now joins a team that is currently without Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, and Olli Maatta and will ask he and another new acquisition, Erik Gudbranson, to help make up for their absences. For now, Wideman will report to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but will likely be recalled if Letang and Dumoulin remain sidelined.

Meanwhile, Dea has also been on the move frequently this year. The 25-year-old forward played 20 games with the New Jersey Devils after being claimed on waivers earlier this season, but returned to Pittsburgh via waivers afterward. Dea has spent the majority of the season in the AHL, only playing three games for the Penguins. He now heads to Florida where he will try to prove he is worthy of regular play time. Dea is currently a candidate for Group 6 free agency at the end of the season, so his time with the Panthers could be short-lived.

Penguins’ Brian Dumoulin And Kris Letang Suffer Injuries

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Ahead of last night’s Stadium Series game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins at Lincoln Financial Field, there was some concern that rain – and the dangerous ice conditions it can cause – would force the Flyers to sit Wayne Simmonds, their top trade chip. With the NHL Trade Deadline only days away, an injury to Simmonds would have made him nearly immovable. Philadelphia decided to take the risk and play Simmonds and the result can only be described as ironic. Rather than Simmonds getting injured, he was the cause of another injury. A high hit by the physical winger on Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin forced Dumoulin out of the game late in the first period.

To make matters worse, Dumoulin’s top pair partner also left the game early. Kris Letang suffered an injury, although it was not immediately clear what happened, in the scrum following the hit on Dumoulin. With Dumoulin and Letang out, the Penguins skated with just four defenseman for much of the game, leaving Justin Schultz and Jack Johnson to each play more than 30 minutes in the game. The effort simply wasn’t enough to overcome the losses, as the Flyers stormed back from two goals down to win in overtime.

As disappointing as the result may have been, one overtime loss is nothing compared to what may happen to the Penguins if both Dumoulin and Letang are out long-term. After the game, head coach Mike Sullivan announced that Dumoulin had suffered a concussion, which was the expected result of the high hit. He also added that Letang was being evaluated for an upper-body injury, but refrained from going into detail. While a concussion is a serious matter, Letang’s injury may be of even greater concern. The All-Star blue liner missed more than a quarter of the regular season and the entire postseason in 2016-17 with a serious neck injury and the understandable worry in Pittsburgh is that it is another neck issue for Letang.

If one or both of the top defensemen are set to miss time, the Penguins are ill-suited to handle that absence. With Olli Maatta already on the injured reserve with no timeline for a return, injuries to Letang and Dumoulin leave Pittsburgh in difficult shape on the blue line. Schultz, who himself just returned from injury, should be able to fill a top-pair role if need be. However, Johnson has had a miserable season and would be a major liability if his ice time increased. Youngsters Marcus Pettersson and Juuso Riikola have played well enough, but neither is quite ready for an increased workload. Chad Ruhwedel has only played in 17 games with the Penguins this year as a frequent healthy scratch, while no defenders in the AHL have seen NHL action this year. The likes of Zach Trotman and Ethan Prow are likely the next men up in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Just last month, Pittsburgh felt comfortable enough with their defensive depth to trade Jamie Oleksiak back to the Dallas Stars. Now, the tables have turned and GM Jim Rutherford has about 24 hours to evaluate the initial injury news on Dumoulin and Letang and decide if he needs to add another defenseman before the deadline. The rental defenseman market isn’t very encouraging and the Penguins have limited cap space, but a player like Adam McQuaid or Michael Del Zotto might make sense for Rutherford to pursue if the Penguins will be without one or both of their top defenders for an extended time. However, with the team battling for a playoff spot still – currently tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the final wild card spot in the East – a minor trade addition may not be enough to save the season if Letang and Dumoulin are out long-term. This could be the beginning of the end for the Penguins’ season.

Five Key Stories: 2/11/19 – 2/17/19

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With the trade deadline now just over a week away, activity has started to pick up around the NHL.  Rumors of major trades continue, but so far just a few deals have been completed.

Lafreniere To Stay In CHL: Potential 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere set the record straight after rumors were circulating that the 17-year-old may opt to sign a contract overseas and follow the footsteps of Auston Matthews who played his draft year in the Swiss NLA. Lafreniere’s agent, Momentum Hockey Agency, released a statement making it clear that while the young talent did look into playing overseas, he and his family decided to stay in the CHL with Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL where he’s played the last two years, having totaled 74 goals and 172 points in 110 games. At 6-foot-1, he already has the size and proven ability to play in a professional league, but he will stay put for one more year.

Pastrnak, Maatta Injured: The Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins each took a hit to their team when each team lost a significant player to injury. The Boston Bruins lost David Pastrnak for a minimum of two weeks after he underwent thumb surgery on Feb. 12 after he fell at a team function. The Bruins, who are fighting with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second spot in the Atlantic Division won’t be helped even if its for a few weeks without Pastrnak, who is the team’s leading scorer with 31 goals as well as 66 points, second on the team. The Penguins also took a hit on their blueline when they placed Olli Maatta on injured reserve with an upper-body injury that would sideline him indefinitely. The team was getting back Justin Schultz from injury at the time, but the team was looking forward to getting back a fully healthy defense, which now they won’t have for some time. To make matters worse, the team had recently dealt away Jamie Oleksiak to make room for Schultz, leaving the team with a lack of depth all of the sudden.

Wild Owner Approves Selling: Just hours after Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau guaranteed that the Wild would make the playoffs, Wild owner Craig Leipold announced that he has given general manager Paul Fenton the green light to sell off some of the team’s players in advance of the upcoming trade deadline. With the team dropping four straight and having a 2-5-3 record in their last 10 games, it might be time for Fenton to make his mark on this team after being hired this summer to fix the team’s inability to advance deep into the playoffs. Among the numerous players who could be shipped off include pending unrestricted free agent Eric Staal as well as Charlie Coyle, who still has one more year on his deal. There are also a number of bottom six players who could be moved as well, including Eric Fehr, Matt Hendricks, Brad Hunt, Matt Bartkowski and Anthony Bitetto.

Philadelphia’s Hart Gets A Mentor: The Philadelphia Flyers finally consummated a rumored trade in which it acquired Edmonton Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot for Anthony Stolarz. While Edmonton freed themselves some much needed cap room as Talbot was making $4.17MM, the Flyers got themselves what they hope will be a long-term veteran who can mentor their prized rookie Carter Hart for the next few years. Talbot, who was already familiar with Hart before, waived his no-movement clause to come to Philadelphia and made it clear that he was open to signing a new contract before July 1 to remain with the team.

Ottawa Intends To Trade Duchene: The Ottawa Senators have stopped in their attempts to sign Matt Duchene to an extension and have indicated to all teams that they intend to trade the 26-year-old center. According to reports, the Senators have shifted their focus of signing Duchene to making a full effort to locking up Mark Stone to an extension. Stone may have a day or two to make up his mind on whether he is willing to sign an extension or he too, will be made available to the league with the intention of selling them off at the trade deadline. Already there has been rumors that the Nashville Predators, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders have expressed serious interest in acquiring the center with more suitors likely to join in before the upcoming trade deadline on Feb. 25.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Olli Maatta Out Indefinitely With Upper-Body Injury

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost one of their defensemen for the time being, as Olli Maatta has been placed on injured reserve. The team announced that Maatta will be out indefinitely following an upper-body injury suffered last night.

Pittsburgh was just about to experience their full defensive corps given Justin Schultz’ imminent return from injury, but will now have to deal with another glaring hole on the back end. Maatta, for all the flaws that have been pointed out in his game over the years—mostly regarding his skating ability—has been an effective defensive zone and short-handed option for the Penguins all season. Schultz doesn’t fill that specific role, so the team will need to lean even more heavily on the likes of Brian Dumoulin and Jack Johnson.

The injury, which appears to be to Maatta’s shoulder, will hopefully not keep the 24-year old out of the playoffs where he has performed admirably over the years. During the team’s 2017 Stanley Cup run, Maatta logged nearly 21 minutes a night in the absence of Kris Letang. Even last season Maatta was a reliable playoff option on the blue line, easily leading the defense corps with a +8 rating in 12 games.

If he is facing a long-term recovery, it will be interesting to see if the Penguins go out and add another name to their group for the stretch run. They traded away Jamie Oleksiak earlier this season despite his positive contributions, and don’t have an obvious option in the minor leagues should anyone else suffer an injury. Losing Maatta doesn’t cripple the Penguins, but it is certainly a damaging blow.

Pittsburgh Penguins Likely To Be Sellers On Defense

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have been impressive over the past few weeks with a record of 12-2 and the team may get even better as The Athletic’s Josh Yohe (subscription required) writes that defenseman Justin Schultz, who has missed all but four games this season with a broken leg, has been skating regularly with the team. While it’s too early for a specific timetable, the defenseman could conceivably be back in early to mid-February. However, Schultz’s return will only create more of a defensive logjam for Pittsburgh, which may be forced to make a move soon.

Yohe writes that once Schultz returns to the lineup, the team is likely to match Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang together, Schultz with Olli Maatta and Jack Johnson with Marcus Pettersson, leaving several players out of the lineup, including 6-foot-6, 256-pound Jamie Oleksiak, promising Juuso Riikola and depth defenseman Chad Ruhwedel — far too may players to keep on their roster which, barring injury, will likely prompt a trade.

Surprisingly, the team is solid in that top six as the scribe adds that the team is devoted to playing Pettersson, who has been incredibly reliable since they acquired the blueliner from Anaheim back on Dec. 3 for Daniel Sprong. In fact, the team has been 14-3-1 when he’s playing, and while Pettersson can’t take all the credit for that, he is a significant defensive presence for the team with many believing that he will make up the left side of the defense with Dumoulin and Maatta for the next few years. Pettersson is only averaging 14:54 of ATOI this season, yet he’s seen a recent spike since arriving in Pittsburgh, averaging 16:09 and continuing to increase. He played 18:05 on Friday against his old team, the Ducks. His offense is also starting to come around as he has a five-game point streak going as he has six assists in the last five games.

That might suggest the team’s best trade asset would likely be the 26-year-old Oleksiak, despite being the second biggest player in the league, next to Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien. Oleksiak has developed into a solid player in Pittsburgh after several years of struggling to break into the Dallas Stars’ lineup. He just recently returned from injury after suffering a concussion in a fight with Washington’s Tom Wilson and may be best known for a collision with Byfuglien earlier this season. Byfuglien came away with the worst of the collision as he suffered a concussion himself. Regardless, a player with Oleksiak’s size could stir quite a bit of interest if Pittsburgh is ready to move on from him. Although he is returning from injury, he has seen a decrease in playing time since his return.

If the team does opt to move Oleksiak, that could leave Riikola as the team’s seventh defenseman and Ruhwedel as the team’s eighth defenseman if the team chooses to hold onto eight defensemen, although that could be at the cost of another forward.

 

Injury Notes: Bruins, Capitals, Penguins, Pageau

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The Boston Bruins should get a boost just in time for the Winter Classic on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks as NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports that Brad Marchand should be ready to go after practicing today, barring any setbacks. He missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury, but it looks like it wasn’t a serious issue. Marchand is having another solid campaign as he has 12 goals and 41 points in 39 games this year.

Rosen also points out that defenseman Charlie McAvoy remains questionable for the big game. The defenseman has missed two games with a lower-body injury and did not practice today. The gifted defenseman has struggled dealing with injuries as he has appeared in just 17 games this year, although he has 11 points.

  • Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post writes that Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen will be out Monday against Nashville and miss his second straight game with an undisclosed upper-body injury. However, the team got better news on Brooks Orpik, who listed as a game-time decision for Monday after missing 27 games with a right-knee injury. The scribe writes that both players practiced Sunday and are both close to returning to the team. The team has also been without Christian Djoos.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins could be without both forward Bryan Rust and defenseman Olli Maatta on Monday as both are listed as day-to-day, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Matt Vensel. Rust didn’t practice today with an undisclosed injury, while Maatta suffered a lower-body injury during Saturday’s game against St. Louis, but finished the game. He didn’t practice today either.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that Ottawa Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau is close to a return. While he’s not expected to play Monday, could be back not long after that. The 26-year-old has been out all season after having surgery to repair a torn Achilles muscle. He had a six-month timetable in mid-September and is well ahead of schedule. Pageau had 14 goals and 29 points last season.

Snapshots: Outdoor Game, Penguins, Patrick

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The 2019 NHL Winter Classic is still more than a month away and the 2019 NHL Stadium Series game even further, but that hasn’t stopped discussions about where the league could turn next for an outdoor game. Today, BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater reports that the Colorado Avalanche are likely to be an outdoor game host “sooner rather than later.” In talking with deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Dater learned that the league is very interested in placing a game at the nearby Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where Falcon Stadium normally plays host to the Air Force football team and a capacity crowd of close to 47,000. Given the success of the NHL’s last foray into an outdoor game in Colorado – the 2016 showdown at Coors Field in Denver – and their special interest in games played at American military institutions, such as last year’s game at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, not to mention the successful Division I hockey program at Air Force, the school seems like a great fit to host a gme.  For now though, the league remains focused on their next contest at a college football venue, when the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks square off at Notre Dame on New Year’s Day.

  • The Pittsburgh Penguins hope that their team is in much better shape when they take part in their outdoor game later this season, a match-up with the rival Flyers at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on February 23rd. The team continues to struggle and, even after his acquisition of forward Tanner Pearson, GM Jim Rutherford remains open for business per numerous sources. However, the next move might not be just a simple one-for-one to land a role player. TSN’s Bob McKenzie raised the stakes on the latest “Insider Trading” segment, stating that “anything and everything is on the table” in Pittsburgh. McKenzie says that the Penguins’ list of untouchables is rather short – just Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. McKenzie believes that anyone else could be move, perhaps adding fuel to the fire of recent rumors that Phil Kessel, Derick Brassard, Olli Maatta, and Matt Murray are among the names that could be on the move if things don’t improve.
  • The Penguins did make a noteworthy move today, announcing that legendary executive Craig Patrick has re-joined the team as a pro scout. The 72-year-old Hall of Famer served as Pittsburgh’s GM for 17 years, from 1989 to 2006. Patrick was the architect of the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup-winning Penguins teams and much of the 2009 championship team and beyond were the products of Patrick’s regime, including Crosby and Malkin. Many will also recognize Patrick as an assistant coach to Herb Brooks on the famed “Miracle” 1980 U.S. Olympic team, while he also served as both coach and GM for the New York Rangers over a nine-year span in the 80’s. The extent of Patrick’s role is unclear, but particularly in the midst of a difficult season, this is a great hire by the Penguins if only for the wisdom and guidance of an experienced hockey guru.

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