Red Wings defenseman Olli Maatta spoke with Ilta-Sanomat’s Tommi Koivunen regarding his decision to sign with the Red Wings, and here’s a rough translation of the Finnish article:
The Finnish defenseman is in a new situation in the NHL–he chose a rebuilding team: “There’s an awful fire to succeed there”
Olli Maatta signed a one-year contract with Detroit, one of the rising teams of the NHL.
Chicago, Los Angeles, now Detroit.
Olli Maatta spent the first six seasons of his NHL career in Pittsburgh, but since the summer of 2019, his address has changed frequently.
Maatta played for the Blackhawks and the Kings on the same season, with the 6-year contract he’d signed with the Penguins.
“When the trade to Chicago happened, I was afraid to go to a new team. Now that a couple of team changes are behind me, I know that joining a new team is quite easy. The biggest challenge is adapting to everyday life in a new city and finding routines,” Maatta summarizes.
This summer, Maatta was a free agent for the first time in his career. He signed a one-year, $2.25 million contract with Detroit.
“It was exciting to see how things work as a free agent for the first time.”
However, Detroit turned out to be an easy choice.
It’s no wonder. In addition to the two-time Stanley Cup winner Maatta, the Red Wings also added David Perron, Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot and Ville Husso from the market, among others.
“It’s nice to have a Finn on the team for the first time in a long time.”Matta (born 1994) and the goaltender Husso (born 1995) are about the same age group as each other, but they don’t know each other particularly well yet.
“We’ve been messaging a bit when we made the moves,” Maatta explains.
The team has a strong tradition of success. Its 25-year playoff streak was broken in 2016, after which Detroit has been rebuilding.
“Long-term work has been done there for many years, and they know how to build a team. (Steve) Yzerman has done it before. Big investments have been made in the summer, and now we are ready to take the next step,” Maatta can see.
GM Yzerman is a team legend player, who was in between as Tampa Bay’s GM, laying the foundation for the Lightning’s dynasty.
Detroit already has in its ranks the rookie stars of last season, the Swedish forward Lucas Raymond and the German monster defenseman Moritz Seider, who was named the rookie of the year. The team captain is 26-year-old Dylan Larkin.
“There are really good and talented young players there. I’ve heard there’s a hell of a fire to succeed there. The core team wants to win. It’s a big deal. As a player, that’s what you want in a team, where something like that starts from the top.”
