Blackhawks acquire Olli Maatta

LordKOTL

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I guess they offered Kahun 3 years for 6 million total bridge contract and he said no.

Source? Seriously and not trying to be a fargin icehole--I just haven't seen any news of this.
No, this is a good trade.

Maatta is a shot blocking machine who, if used correctly, fills a void quick.

He's slow, but not Rosival/ Seabrook slow. He also has a high IQ and his positioning is elite.

Pair him with Gus and you finally have a top pairing, a Campbell/hammer type.

Maatta/ Gus
Keith/Seabs
Dahl/ Murphy

I can live with that. That's enough to get to the playoffs if Crow is back to normal. Throw in Forsling and Joker and things are looking up
I'm lukewarm. It's defensive help sure but it almost looks like Stan is trying to be too smart for his own good. His injury history is concerning but on the other hand he fills the Hjammer-void that Murphy can't. But, on the flipside, that effectively jams the D for awhile: Keith/Seabs/Maata/Murph are here through 2022 and taking 20+M of cap. That's a lot and unfortunately it kicks the can down for most of Joker/Boqvist/Beaudin/Mitchell, unless the aforementioned 4 could move. Ditto on Gus, but I think at the absolute latest his rights are traded after the season unless he starts playing defense.

Couple that with this acquisition might signal that Stan might overlook Byram. Not that it's a horrible thing if he takes Turcotte but honestly I think most of our current 4 D prospects could overtop Maata--much less Byram who is pegged as a top, and not middle pair. That to me would be an issue if Stan started to thing Maata = No need for Byram if Byram is the BPA.

The best part about this deal though is that according to CF, the 'hawks are not honoring the NTC on his contract, so if needed he could be moved. I think that's good--because it should give us flexibility moving forward if our 4 D-prospects pan out.

Anyhow I guess we'll wait and see. Truth be told Maata/Murph does have some of the hallmarks of Hjammer/Oduya--not a bad thing.
 

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Source? Seriously and not trying to be a fargin icehole--I just haven't seen any news of this.

I'm lukewarm. It's defensive help sure but it almost looks like Stan is trying to be too smart for his own good. His injury history is concerning but on the other hand he fills the Hjammer-void that Murphy can't. But, on the flipside, that effectively jams the D for awhile: Keith/Seabs/Maata/Murph are here through 2022 and taking 20+M of cap. That's a lot and unfortunately it kicks the can down for most of Joker/Boqvist/Beaudin/Mitchell, unless the aforementioned 4 could move. Ditto on Gus, but I think at the absolute latest his rights are traded after the season unless he starts playing defense.

Couple that with this acquisition might signal that Stan might overlook Byram. Not that it's a horrible thing if he takes Turcotte but honestly I think most of our current 4 D prospects could overtop Maata--much less Byram who is pegged as a top, and not middle pair. That to me would be an issue if Stan started to thing Maata = No need for Byram if Byram is the BPA.

The best part about this deal though is that according to CF, the 'hawks are not honoring the NTC on his contract, so if needed he could be moved. I think that's good--because it should give us flexibility moving forward if our 4 D-prospects pan out.

Anyhow I guess we'll wait and see. Truth be told Maata/Murph does have some of the hallmarks of Hjammer/Oduya--not a bad thing.

Thanks for the thoughts.

After that I would look at this as a 1st half of season move...an attempt to finagle the D into operating properly while they wait and see with the young guys what they have exactly.

While we don't like it...they do have a bit of time to kill and killing more plays into their cost control plans, so its pretty clear they are just giving themselves a shot at that even if it doesn't pan out...because the rewards of it working could be high near the trade deadline.

Keith can't get younger.
I am not a fan of Murphs game.
Seabrook should be a 7.

Maatta is gonna have to block ALOT of shots with a bunch of vagina's around him not reciprocating...probably will get old.
 

anotheridiot

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Source? Seriously and not trying to be a fargin icehole--I just haven't seen any news of this.

Its the common tone with the restricted guys, take a bridge or you get shipped out of town.

They traded Hammer with a 4 million cap hit because they figured he would need 6 or 7 to stay. He stayed in Phoenix for 5.

Saad refused, gone
Darling offered, refused, gone
Panarin offered, refused, gone.
Shaw
Hartman
Vinnie
Danault

Those are just a few.

Thats what I see at least, its not that hard to put it together, especially after the Saad bridge was reported on so much.

It does not take much to see which players should have accepted a bridge deal that just end up getting dealt. If Stans not offering thru the season, he is not doing his job.
 

anotheridiot

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Thanks for the thoughts.

After that I would look at this as a 1st half of season move...an attempt to finagle the D into operating properly while they wait and see with the young guys what they have exactly.

While we don't like it...they do have a bit of time to kill and killing more plays into their cost control plans, so its pretty clear they are just giving themselves a shot at that even if it doesn't pan out...because the rewards of it working could be high near the trade deadline.

Keith can't get younger.
I am not a fan of Murphs game.
Seabrook should be a 7.

Maatta is gonna have to block ALOT of shots with a bunch of vagina's around him not reciprocating...probably will get old.

Just does not seem to be any room for any of the killer b's, even if this guy fits a need. Need also means trusting the guys you drafted high and give them a shot.
 

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No, this is a good trade.

Maatta is a shot blocking machine who, if used correctly, fills a void quick.

He's slow, but not Rosival/ Seabrook slow. He also has a high IQ and his positioning is elite.

Pair him with Gus and you finally have a top pairing, a Campbell/hammer type.

Maatta/ Gus
Keith/Seabs
Dahl/ Murphy

I can live with that. That's enough to get to the playoffs if Crow is back to normal. Throw in Forsling and Joker and things are looking up
Maybe, but I can't get past the fact that they gave away a good young prospect locked into entry level for another year, AND a 5 round to take on his 4 mil. They were already tight in free agency and cheap promising prospects was going to be the only way to dig out. You are doing Pen a favor by taking him off their hands as he was done there. And you gave them cap relief, a decent enough prospect, then threw a 5th in for good measure? This move to be smart would have been about moving a bad contract for bad contract with a 5th or something like that. Fresh start for players type of thing.
 

LordKOTL

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Thanks for the thoughts.

After that I would look at this as a 1st half of season move...an attempt to finagle the D into operating properly while they wait and see with the young guys what they have exactly.

While we don't like it...they do have a bit of time to kill and killing more plays into their cost control plans, so its pretty clear they are just giving themselves a shot at that even if it doesn't pan out...because the rewards of it working could be high near the trade deadline.

Keith can't get younger.
I am not a fan of Murphs game.
Seabrook should be a 7.

Maatta is gonna have to block ALOT of shots with a bunch of vagina's around him not reciprocating...probably will get old.
...so he's gotta be Hjammer?

I'm not necessarily against the idea of a stopgap while the youth mature, but a guy signed through 2022 with the D locked down like it is? Kinda makes me wonder. If it was Sikura on the move I would have cared less but Kahun had some drive.

Like it or not though Seabrook is not going to be a #7. I sincerely think that if Stan and JC do that they'd both be fired for wasting Rocky's money.

Its the common tone with the restricted guys, take a bridge or you get shipped out of town.

They traded Hammer with a 4 million cap hit because they figured he would need 6 or 7 to stay. He stayed in Phoenix for 5.

Saad refused, gone
Darling offered, refused, gone
Panarin offered, refused, gone.
Shaw
Hartman
Vinnie
Danault

Those are just a few.

Thats what I see at least, its not that hard to put it together, especially after the Saad bridge was reported on so much.

It does not take much to see which players should have accepted a bridge deal that just end up getting dealt. If Stans not offering thru the season, he is not doing his job.
Speculation that he was asked to take a bridge and refused? Not far fetched. Your numbers were quite specific though and it looked like you'd have a source for that--even if it was someone like JJ or Ecklund who couldn't tell the difference between a hockey stick and a pixie stick.

Plus Darling being a UFA couldn't be bridged--and in fact that went down exactly like it should have. Crawford *had* to be protected in the expansion draft because he has an NMC and given that Darling couldn't be protected at all--the 'hawks could only protect 1 goalie. Either the 'hawks could have offered him a contract like he got from Carolina as a "fuck off" to Vegas taking him putting them in more cap hell, or whatever the signed him to, he'd be selected. The did the best job they could for a player on an upcoming UFA deal who they were going to lose.

And history proved the 'hawks right--Darling is not in the league anymore meanwhile Crawford'd been mostly good...you know: when the 18 pantywaists in front of him weren't letting him be concussed.

Hjammer also wasn't an RFA. Plus, the miles and wear and tear were starting to catch up to him. I don't agree with that trade in retrospect but it wasn't to accept a bridger. Panarin was, but the 'hawks signed him to 6M...then traded him for Saad. That's not on Panarin. Further, since the 2013 lockout the practice seems to be more and more paying the higher tier guys earlier on. i.e. guys like McJesus, Eichel, Matthews, etc. getting their payday on RFA instead of one-down like Kane/Toews--and it's not like the 'hawks could have afforded Saad at near fair-market value with all of Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabook, Hossa, Hjalmarsson, & Bickell on the books.
 

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Hmmmmm....

maybe there is more going on here than we understand just yet? I'm gonna sit this off-season out until the picture becomes more clear.

1. This could prelude movement in the draft
2. This could be about the expansion draft somehow (any reason Maata would wave his NTC with Pitt to go to Seattle after year with Hawks?)"
3. There may be more trades of D from Hawks coming that will make sense.

Gonna have to watch the next 1 year and 1 week to have a clear picture of what was done and why, imo, without inside knowledge.
 

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Its the common tone with the restricted guys, take a bridge or you get shipped out of town.

They traded Hammer with a 4 million cap hit because they figured he would need 6 or 7 to stay. He stayed in Phoenix for 5.

Saad refused, gone
Darling offered, refused, gone
Panarin offered, refused, gone.
Shaw
Hartman
Vinnie
Danault

Those are just a few.

Thats what I see at least, its not that hard to put it together, especially after the Saad bridge was reported on so much.

It does not take much to see which players should have accepted a bridge deal that just end up getting dealt. If Stans not offering thru the season, he is not doing his job.
Panarin re-signed with us for 2 x6m. Than Stan got cute and shipped him of for the anchor known as Saad.
 

Raskolnikov

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That will be the fucking day when Murphy/Maata are Oduya/Hammer.

Get the fuck out of here. Oduya was a great athlete. He was fluid, smooth, could jump some, control his body and position himself.

Murphy is a fucking frankenstein...and blocking shots is great but that don't make you Hammer. It makes you a shot blocker. Hammer moves the corsi needle for a couple reasons and I think asking Maata to be Hammer is a bit of pressure around these parts.
 

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That will be the fucking day when Murphy/Maata are Oduya/Hammer.

Get the fuck out of here. Oduya was a great athlete. He was fluid, smooth, could jump some, control his body and position himself.

Murphy is a fucking frankenstein...and blocking shots is great but that don't make you Hammer. It makes you a shot blocker. Hammer moves the corsi needle for a couple reasons and I think asking Maata to be Hammer is a bit of pressure around these parts.
Remember when Leddy was the next Keith....
 

MassHavoc

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Hmmmmm....

maybe there is more going on here than we understand just yet? I'm gonna sit this off-season out until the picture becomes more clear.

1. This could prelude movement in the draft
2. This could be about the expansion draft somehow (any reason Maata would wave his NTC with Pitt to go to Seattle after year with Hawks?)"
3. There may be more trades of D from Hawks coming that will make sense.

Gonna have to watch the next 1 year and 1 week to have a clear picture of what was done and why, imo, without inside knowledge.
Definately more trades coming, Stan is likely on his last year of not producing and to him that means any movement shows he's doing something. He'll start flipping minor leaguers just to make it look like he's smart maneuvering. It's funny too because we rag on him for this, but he's always done this, it just stopped working when the other GMs figured him out.
 

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Maybe, but I can't get past the fact that they gave away a good young prospect locked into entry level for another year, AND a 5 round to take on his 4 mil. They were already tight in free agency and cheap promising prospects was going to be the only way to dig out. You are doing Pen a favor by taking him off their hands as he was done there. And you gave them cap relief, a decent enough prospect, then threw a 5th in for good measure? This move to be smart would have been about moving a bad contract for bad contract with a 5th or something like that. Fresh start for players type of thing.

Pittsburgh has a logjam of D players and wanted to unload Jack Johnson(5mil per)...no interest so Hawks get Maatta... a 2nd pairing Dman says a Pittsburgh sports writer.
 

LordKOTL

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Remember when Leddy was the next Keith....
While Leddy couldn't sniff Keith's jock defensively (except 2018 when they both sucked like David Runblad), Leddy was a better PPQB than Keith was--even before Keith became a liability on the PP.

I don't think Maata/Murph can be Hjammer/Oduya clones. But I do think there's a resonable chance they can be in similar deployment--no O from them but good enough to soak up 19-20+ minutes per game and not shoot the team in the foot defensively. They should be able to take time away from Keith and Seabs especially in routine situations. Maybe they won't be on Hjammer/OPduya's level (that might be more like Joker/Mitchell down the line), but it certainly beats the hell out of running our geezers ragged for lack of a better option.
 

Raskolnikov

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He should be useful as a lefty here.

Can they move Murphy though and call somebody up or draft Lord Byrum or nah?
why does Murphy have to be on the team?
 

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He should be useful as a lefty here.

Can they move Murphy though and call somebody up or draft Lord Byrum or nah?
why does Murphy have to be on the team?
The more I see people saying Hughes Kakko 1-2 the less I see talk of byrum unfortunately.
 

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It's going to be Turcotte, and the Grinch will whore him out in the media
The following is an attempt to cleanse the mention of the grinch.
GAosvMQS

Dave Bolland reveals he attended Game 7 between Blues and Bruins and sat six rows from where he scored game-winner for #Blackhawks in 2013 Cup finals (no one recognized him)
 

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If Bowman feels the heat like he should, then no way he deviates from Byrum.

He may just be churning the trade fairies by trying to spook a couple teams behind him and see if anyone is deeply enamored with Turcotte to give us what we want.

Pick will be Lord Byram

Maata is 4 million smokescreen and his perfect partner second half of season after he trades Murph.
 

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