At this time last year, Olli Maatta was a promising 18-year-old defenseman for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey league.
Oh what a year makes.
With the Penguins fighting for the top-seed in the Eastern Conference, Maatta, now 19, has gone from a hyped-prospect to a go-to NHL defenseman. Twenty-eight points and a plus-12 rating have shown the progress that the young defenseman has made, and he has even seen time on the Penguins power play and penalty kill units. And what a year for him to show up as the blue line has been decimated with injuries. The team’s top four defensemen —Paul Martin, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi — have all been injured at times this season.
With his strong play this season, the question then becomes, is Maatta truly a top defenseman or is he over-hyped, benefiting from playing with breakout defensive partner Matt Niskanen and the other talented stars the Penguins have?
Maatta, who many scouts saw as a top-10 pick in the 2012 draft, was known for his calm presence and play-making ability in the offensive zone during his time with the Knights. It came as a surprise to many when the Penguins found themselves on the clock with the 22nd overall pick and Maatta was still on the board. Despite selecting prized defenseman Derrick Pouliot with the 8th overall pick earlier in the round, GM Ray Shero decided that Maatta was too good of a talent to pass up.
No one in the front office expected Maatta to make the team out of training camp. Perhaps he would continue to polish his game with the Knights. After all, the Penguins have a deep pool of talent on the blue-line. So when it was announced that Maatta had impressed the Penguins coaching staff enough to get a longer look into the regular season, many wondered how the youngster would perform.
Maatta has shattered all expectations for a 19-year-old rookie.
He has been reliable on the defensive end and continues to improve with every game. With a 6-foot-2-inch frame, he has even shown the ability to take and receive hits in the defensive corners of the ice and despite not being overly physical, he hasn’t been intimidated by NHL-sized fore-checkers. Breaking the puck out of the zone has also been something that Maatta has continuously improved on. It’s not always easy for a defenseman to play in a fast-paced system that utilizes north and south passing but his strong skating ability has helped make the transition easy.
Where Maatta truly excels is in the offensive zone and in transition. Maatta can skate with the puck and makes smart passes to gain entry into the zone. He knows when to pinch along the boards and has a strong shot along the point, which has helped him register nine goals so far this season. The intangibles also suggest that Maatta will be a future star. Not only has he shown poise and leadership with the Penguins, but also in Sochi for Finland. Maatta received praise from many teammates on Finland for those intangibles. It also helped that he registered three-goals and two-assists for Finland on their way to the bronze medal.
Maatta has helped the Penguins in a multitude of ways, and given his young age, improvement is on the horizon. The Penguins front office obviously saw something in him when they drafted him and brought him directly up to the NHL club. Maatta will be a top-line defenseman in a few years and will prove that his rookie season was no fluke.
