MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a notebook article this morning which offers quotes from Olli Maatta’s press conference after the 28-year-old defenseman signed with the Red Wings this past July:
“I have to be honest with myself, the last couple of seasons haven’t been that great, but haven’t been that big of a disaster either,” Maatta said. “I know I got a lot more in me. I think this is a great opportunity to show that. I can play in this league a long time, and even in a bigger role than I’ve had the last couple of seasons. That was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Detroit. It’s an exciting team, a good team to be on, having a new coaching staff, a really good organization with that culture that everybody wants to win.”
The Red Wings addressed their need for left-shooting defensemen in free agency by signing Maatta and Ben Chiarot on July 13. But while Chiarot got four years at $19 million, Maatta garnered only one year at $2.25 million. He has more to prove after — by his own admission — two mediocre seasons in Los Angeles.
Maatta (6-2, 206) produced nine goals and 29 points as a rookie and matched that point total in 2017-18. He had just one goal and 12 points in 107 games with the Kings the past two seasons.
“I’m known as a defensive guy, but I think I got more offense than my stats show the last couple of years,” Maatta said. “My mindset is always (defending). There’s so many details going into that — looking at how you break the puck out and if you play with the puck the other team can’t score. So ‘defensive defensemen,’ there’s a lot more to it than just defending. You got to play some offense, too.”
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman described Chiarot and Maatta as bigger-bodied defense-first defensemen that get in opponents’ way.
“They have good length, they defend pretty well, can block shots and are big bodies that are hard to play against,” Yzerman said. “They complement the two young guys on the right.”