Why Blackhawks GM Bowman traded for Penguins defenseman

As Olli Maatta was sound asleep in Finland on Saturday, he was still a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

When Sunday dawned, though, the 26-year-old defenseman found out he was part of a trade that sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks.

"There's a lot to bite down in one morning when you hear you get traded," Maatta said in a conference call with reporters. "It's been a wild day. Definitely didn't expect this last night when I went to sleep."

So what can Hawks fans expect from Maatta, who was acquired for forward Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round draft pick?

General manager Stan Bowman likes that the 22nd overall pick of the 2012 draft is a steady, reliable defender "with an active stick."

Bowman also said Maatta is effective at moving the puck up to the forwards and that he can be an integral part of the penalty kill. Maatta has averaged 1.69 blocked shots per game over the last three seasons, which ranks 66th in the league among players with at least 100 appearances.

"That's something that we certainly want to improve next year," Bowman said of a PK unit that finished dead last in the NHL with a 72.7 percent kill rate. "Certainly bringing in some players that have shown the ability to do that is one way to accomplish our goal."

The 6-foot-2, 206-pound Maatta, who carries a $4.083 million cap hit through the 2021-22 season, was a top-four defenseman on Pittsburgh's 2016 and '17 championship teams. He scored 9 goals as a rookie in 2014-15, 6 in 2015-16 and 7 in 2017-18, but just 1 in his other three campaigns.

Last season - one in which he was out from Feb. 12 until March 28 with an upper-body injury - was admittedly a rough one. Not only did Maatta miss that time, but he was scratched for Games 2-4 as the Islanders swept the Penguins out of the first round of the playoffs.

Still, none of that stopped Bowman from pulling the trigger.

"Coming back from an injury is not easy," Bowman said, "especially at the end of the year when everyone else has been playing high-pressure hockey and you're trying to get yourself healthy and then jump back into it. From that perspective you can't read too much into a smaller subset of games.

"Looking at the big picture, we like his versatility to his game. His strengths are something that were not strengths for us - and that would be his ability to defend."

While Maatta wasn't thrilled with last season, he also didn't believe it was as bad as some made it out to be. As for those three healthy scratches in the playoffs?

"I had a bad Game 1, and obviously with the depth we have on defense, it's always a competition down there in Pittsburgh," Maatta said. "We had so many good D-men that any of those guys could've played, so that was a coach decision. Obviously it's frustrating to watch your team play and not be part of it."

Bowman felt Kahun (13 goals, 24 assists) was expendable because of the additions of Anton Wedin and Dominik Kubalik. He also expects Dylan Sikura to take another step next season.

With the NHL draft on the horizon - the Hawks hold the No. 3 pick for Friday's first round - and free agency opening July 1, Bowman was asked what we might expect in the next couple of weeks.

"The trade chatter has been pretty active throughout the league," he said. "I've had a number of conversations and I expect that to continue over the next week. …

"We're going to continue to look into other ways to improve our team through trades, and if none of that comes to be, then we'll look at the free-agent market. We expect to be active."

Olli Maatta stats

Season GP G A Pts.

2013-14 78 9 20 29

2014-15 20 1 8 9

2015-16 67 6 13 19

2016-17 55 1 6 7

2017-18 82 7 22 29

2018-19 60 1 13 14

Totals 362 25 82 107

Note: Maatta has 2 goals and 19 assists in 69 playoff games