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Olli Maatta injury update: Penguins defenseman out six weeks

By Dave Stevenson

Feb 7, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta (3) skates with the puck against the Calgary Flames during the second period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. The Flames won 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta (3) skates with the puck against the Calgary Flames during the second period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. The Flames won 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t have defenseman Olli Maatta for at least the next six weeks. 

This season, the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been as cursed with injuries as they have been in the past. However, it’s starting to rear its ugly head recently. First, Evgeni Malkin missed time. Next, Carl Hagelin is still fighting his way back from a concussion. The most recent injury might be the most costly, as the team announced defenseman Olli Maatta is out for at least the next six weeks. He underwent successful hand surgery.

"Penguins head team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas of the UPMC Sports Medicine team performed the surgery.Maatta is expected to be out of the lineup for six weeks, after injuring his left hand in Thursday’s game against Winnipeg."

Even though Maatta doesn’t play huge minutes for the Penguins, combined with Justin Schultz’s injury, this is a pretty big deal. Pittsburgh’s top heavy blue line is suddenly looking less than stellar. Maatta averages just over 18 minutes of ice time. With the Penguins calling up two AHL defensemen, this puts a lot of pressure on Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. It’s worth noting the former has a significant and unfortunate history of durability issues.

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Expect the Penguins to trade for a blue line upgrade at the NHL trade deadline. With Maatta’s cap hit on the long term injured reserve list, they have roughly enough cap space to take on Kevin Shattenkirk. However, that might be too big of a splash for the usually conservative Penguins. A more logical move would be trading for Michael Stone or one of the other rental options. They should be getting guys healthy, so unless they can move Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins don’t have the room necessary to have Shattenkirk and bring guys back.

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