Olli Maatta gets a 6-year extension
Instead of another trade, the Penguins announced the extension of the young blueliner.
The Penguins announced this morning that they have re-signed Olli Maatta to a 6-year extension.
The #Pens have signed Olli Maatta to a six-year contract extension with an AAV of $4.083M. https://t.co/Z2RzLPbLOX pic.twitter.com/PnlrVVe5KB
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 26, 2016
Maatta extension includes Limited NTC the last two years. He picks 8 teams he can't be traded to.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) February 26, 2016
Pittsburgh buys two of Matta's UFA years with the six-year extension.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 26, 2016
At 21, Maatta is still at the start of his hockey career, which will now continue with the Penguins for the foreseeable future.
He has found success playing with Letang on the first pairing. Especially in the last two seasons: they have played together 500 minutes at even strength and have a 55 CF% in that span. That puts them among the best pairings in the league. Some comparable pairings with similar numbers: Stralman and Hedman, Keith and Seabrook, Doughty and Muzzin, etc., ...
Olli Maatta is pretty good: pic.twitter.com/HRDcALn6Mn
— dom luszczyszyn (@omgitsdomi) February 26, 2016
The trend of signing young, promising d-men to long-term deals with a relatively low cap hit isn't completely new. Roman Josi, John Klingberg, Victor Hedman are on some of the best deals in the league due to similar contract decisions. Maatta's contract is also likely to be a steal in just a couple years.
Some more Maatta comparables:
— General Fanager (@generalfanager) February 26, 2016
Klingberg 7yrs @ $4.25M
Klefbom 7 @ $4.167M
Gardiner 5 @ $4.05M
Josi 7 @ $4M
Fowler 5 @ $4M
Hedman 5 @ $4M