Pens reveal how the Maatta trade was supposed to be quite different

​Would you have prefer the other version of this move?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Pens reveal how the Maatta trade was supposed to be quite different
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The Pittsburgh Penguins were looking to shed salary off their cap space and, in the end, they managed just that when they traded defenseman Olli Maatta the Chicago Blackhawks for rookie Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round pick.

However, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford revealed on Tuesday that the trade could have involved another player than Maatta. 

“We certainly had to make a move from a cap point of view," Rutherford told 93.7 The Fan, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "...We were getting ourselves to a point where we might have been in a little trouble.
"It was going to be either [Jack] Johnson or Maatta to open up the necessary cap space and open up the logjam at defense. And as it turned out, it ended up being Olli.”

Most of us believe that the Penguins fanbase would have been happier with Johnson on the move… 

Johnson didn’t do much for the Penguins after signing a five-year, $16.25 million contract with Pittsburgh last July: he posted one goal and 13 points in 82 games this season. 

However, Maatta wasn’t any better and was often mentioned in trade chatter once the Penguins were quickly eliminated from the postseason. 

It wasn’t the first time the Penguins however attempted to move Johnson. He was reported to be part of the proposed trade with the Minnesota Wild for Jason Zucker and Victor Rask before Phil Kessel vetoed the move by refusing to waive his no-trade clause.

The Penguins’ issues are still getting better by moving Maatta: they are currently projected to have $6.37 million in cap space this summer, if the salary cap is set at $83 million.

We are pretty sure they aren’t done making moves this offseason…