The problems lie in his transition game - defense to offense and vice versa. His inconsistency is frustrating given his ability to carry the puck and shoot pretty well. Offensive production is a complete guessing game with Maatta. Unfortunately, Maatta’s health is troubling. His relative possession to average is mostly negative but again he only averages 18 minutes a night or so. Then, there is Olli Maatta who is up one season and down the next. Most think of Dominik Kahun as a middle-six forward who enjoyed a breakout season by fluke. The concerns on both players have been documented. Pittsburgh gains over $3 million in cap space by moving Olli Maatta. Maatta turns 25 at the start of the 2019-20 season while Kahun will be 24. Olli Maatta traded for Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round pickĪgain, Pittsburgh seems to pull a rabbit out of the hat to gain some cap space and acquire some offense as well. Suspensions are a risk no question but Gudas could see an expanded role while Niskanen sees a 4D role. So, Washington gained cap space and arguably got more physical down the middle of the ice. Despite an offensive zone percentage of just 41.7%, Gudas still had a relative possession around +1%. Can he handle tougher minutes? It’s plausible at least. It is hard to know what he can do when the physical blueliner played around 17 minutes a night. The difference is Gudas can punish and still deliver the occasional offense. As a few pundits mentioned, his transition to a more stay-at-home player has begun. One wrinkle in his game was hits and blocks which were both over 135 this season. Also, the defenseman’s relative possession percentages dipped to -3%.įinally, his production dropped to 25 points while playing nearly 22 minutes a night. Niskanen shooting at around 5.5% is almost a third above his 4.2% average in Washington. With the good, comes the bad, and then the worse. Another is he has 15 goals in the last two seasons. One good thing for Matt Niskanen is he can still skate well enough out of his own zone in transition. Gudas is just 29 and could play a bigger role in Washington than he did with the Flyers. Niskanen turns 33 in December and has appeared to lost a step.
Washington has just one year of the Gudas deal left while Philadelphia has two years of Niskanen. It was not just the trade but the idea the Flyers retained 30% of Radko Gudas’ salary. This one caused many to scratch their heads, especially on the Philadelphia Flyers end. The idea is to examine the trades first and maybe see what else could come trickling down. Now, there is debate as to which one did it better as always. The Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins executed these “salary dumps” to clear cap room. Dominik Kahun and a 2019 fifth-round pick for Olli Maatta. Then, a second trade involved the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks. The first trade was Matt Niskanen heading to Philadelphia for Radko Gudas. Plus, there have been a few buyouts (expected) as well. It has been an active start to the offseason with a couple of trades to kick things off.
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