NHL Trade – Red Wings Trade Olli Maata to Utah

4 comments

1. Let me know your thoughts on this trade

2. Great Video, as usual, Mike. I'd like to thank you for the update as well as others

3. As a RW fan since the Dead Things era, I like this trade. Maata was in-and-out of the lineup usually on the 3rd pair this year. This opens the spot for rookie Johansson to play solid minutes regularly. What is interesting about this move is the cap space now allows another trade to happen. There have been a lot of rumors flying around about Timothy Liljegren and Ivan Provorov. Possibilities?

4. As a long-time Red Wings fan, always a little sad to see somebody who has quietly worked hard and acted as a good example to our younger players, head for the exit. That said, for the team this kind of makes sense at this point in time, as they've been carrying eight 'D' men and need(ed) to create more playing time and opportunities for their younger 'D' guys, particularly Albert Johansson (who is likely to be the most immediate beneficiary of this late-night trade).

   A couple of additional considerations to bear in mind, here, too, are:

   1) As GM, Steve Yzerman is always on the look out for ways to increase the team's future draft/trade capital and the idea of picking up a third round pick now, for a guy in the final year of his contract, may well have appealed to him a lot, in this context.

   2) Steve Y. may have been sending the rest of the team AND, possibly, their coach, a sudden and pointed reminder that his patience with the Detroit 'D' corps' ongoing defensive struggles may already be wearing thin e.g. their atrocious 'shots against' stats simply cannot be allowed to continue if they have any serious aspirations at competing for a playoff place, come season end.

   Sorry to see Olli hitting the road, on a human being level, naturally: I am sure that his hard work, selfless attitude, and veteran experience, will all quickly endear him to his new teammates, coach and hockey fans in Utah.

   Good luck to Olli, going forwards👏👍!