Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta’s season is likely over, according to multiple media reports, the first of which was by 105.9The X’s Mark Madden.
The young defenseman’s sophomore season never got on track, as he has been sidelined by multiple injuries and illnesses.
He missed all of training camp while rehabilitating his shoulder from off-season surgery. Sometime during training camp, he was diagnosed with a tumor on his thyroid gland, but was still in the opening-night lineup. He then played in the first ten games of the season before undergoing surgery to remove the tumor, which later was found to be cancerous.
He returned to action quickly, missing just six games, and was back in action for ten more games before being sidelined with a shoulder injury December 6 against Ottawa.
After getting a preliminary diagnosis for his shoulder, he requested and received a second opinion on whether or not he was required to have a second surgery on his shoulder. In the meantime, he was one of the five Penguins players to contract the mumps virus.
Finally, in late December, Penguins head coach Mike Johnston announced that Maatta would avoid surgery and miss approximately another four weeks while rehabbing that injury.
Now, it seems that his rehab has hit a snag. Through 20 games this season, he had one goal, eight assists, ten penalty minutes, and a plus-1 rating.
The absence of Maatta may hinder the Penguins ability to trade a defenseman at the trade deadline. Both Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff are playing on expiring contracts and are candidates to be dealt if they’re not extended, but without Maatta, general manager Jim Rutherford may be hesitant to deal one of his veteran defensemen.
Maatta is under contract for 2015-16, but will be a restricted free agent at the end of that season.
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Penguins
