DETROIT, MI—Late Tuesday evening, the Detroit Red Wings announced a trade with the Utah Hockey Club: defenseman Olli Maatta in exchange for a third round pick in the 2025 Draft, a pick that originally belonged to the New York Rangers. Here’s a quick breakdown of why the Red Wings made the move and what it means for the lineup in the short term.
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What Motivated the Trade?
The crux of the explanation is that trading Maatta cleared space against the salary cap and a roster spot. The relative cap crunch has to do with the imminent return of Tyler Motte and the emergence of Marco Kasper. Kasper was an emergency call-up when Motte was sidelined with an upper body injury on Oct. 17, and he’s quickly proven his value to the Red Wings lineup, drawing praise from coach Derek Lalonde for the maturity in his game and the balance he affords the entire forward corps.
With that said, trading Maatta wasn’t necessary to making a place for Kasper. Detroit could have had room under the cap and within the 23-man roster limit for all of Maatta, Kasper, and Motte. Such a roster would, however, have left the Red Wings with roughly half-a-million dollars in cap space, which (as Detroit nearly found out over the weekend had J.T. Compher been unable to play in Buffalo) would not be enough to call up an additional player should injury require it, even if the roster spot were freed up by short-term injured reserve. It also opens up cap space down the line for a potential trade deadline acquisition or to make sure Patrick Kane’s possible bonuses (should he hit them) count against this year’s cap rather than kicking on to next’s.
Meanwhile, Maatta has been a healthy scratch twice this season and averaged 15:52 of ice time in the seven he has played, which would be a career low. He’s provided a steady defensive presence in a third pairing, penalty kill role for the Red Wings, but he’s not exactly made himself indispensable. In the final year of his contract with a $3 million cap hit, he is also eminently tradable, not just as a cap dump but with some solid value in return. On the ice, the emergence of Albert Johansson and Justin Holl’s strong play since his 24-hour stint in Grand Rapids makes it relatively comfortable for the Red Wings to absorb Maatta’s loss.
What Does This Mean for the Red Wings Lineup?
First and foremost, it officially confirms what was all but certain already: Marco Kasper is in Detroit to stay. Yes, he was initially an emergency call-up, but between his pre-season performances and his play since the call-up, there’s little doubt Kasper belongs. Now, his spot (in literal salary cap terms) has been clearly defined.
It also affirms the Red Wings trust in both Johansson and Holl. Derek Lalonde has consistently said that he trusted all of his eight defensemen, but trading Maatta and reducing that number to seven makes clear his faith in Johansson and Holl was more than lip service, despite those players not featuring as consistently as Maatta in the early going.
As far as Detroit’s new eighth option on defense (a player I would not expect to be called up to the NHL roster until injury necessitated it), there are a few candidates. William Lagesson—signed as a free agent this summer—is probably the favorite, or at least the most proven commodity, with 100 NHL games to his name split between the Oilers, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and Ducks. If the Red Wings chose to tap more of a developed/developing prospect, it might consider any of Shai Buium, Anti Tuomisto, or William Wallinder.
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