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Toddyd77
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How does everyone feel with him sticking around for at least 40 games this season?
It does seem to probably put us in a little bit of a cap issue once Neal and Vokoun return.
I'm not really for it. We have only seen a 9 game sample of Maatta and he has been kind of sheltered in those 9 games. He has been out in favorable matchups and starts a lot of shifts in the offensive zone. I'm not saying he hasn't made some good plays, he has but the risk reward of making a call on a 19yr old defenseman seems a little rushed. Epsecially because a yr on his entry level contract gets burned and if he does begin to struggle and gets sent back to juniors that year gets burned for nothing
With LEtang's return his minutes will only go down, while in juniors he would be a 20min plus a nite guy.
He will now be a 6/7 dman competing with Bortuzzo and engelland for games playing alongside niskanen. Unless Engelland moves more to a 4th line winger. I would rather Maatta be a #1 and be on the ice every game than play14-16min a nite and spend some nights in the press box.
I also wonders what this says about our def depth in Wilkes Barre. Players like Despres, Dumolin, Harrington were all touted to be nhl rdy and wouldn't be hurt as much in developement being a 6/7th dman.
Does this make Despres an obvious trade candidate or the fact he is on a 2way deal make it a buisness/cap move to leave him down while Maatta gets showcased?
The last thing I will mention is this does actually kind of hurt the pens defense size/physicality wise. Maatta isn't known as a hard hitting dman. He is only 6 foot 1. One of the percieved problems with the Pens defense has been a lack of size and hitting and ability to clear the front of the net. Orpik will be the only dman in the lineup on a regular basis that you could say would make forwards think twice about going into the corners or parking in front of the net.
It does seem to probably put us in a little bit of a cap issue once Neal and Vokoun return.
I'm not really for it. We have only seen a 9 game sample of Maatta and he has been kind of sheltered in those 9 games. He has been out in favorable matchups and starts a lot of shifts in the offensive zone. I'm not saying he hasn't made some good plays, he has but the risk reward of making a call on a 19yr old defenseman seems a little rushed. Epsecially because a yr on his entry level contract gets burned and if he does begin to struggle and gets sent back to juniors that year gets burned for nothing
With LEtang's return his minutes will only go down, while in juniors he would be a 20min plus a nite guy.
He will now be a 6/7 dman competing with Bortuzzo and engelland for games playing alongside niskanen. Unless Engelland moves more to a 4th line winger. I would rather Maatta be a #1 and be on the ice every game than play14-16min a nite and spend some nights in the press box.
I also wonders what this says about our def depth in Wilkes Barre. Players like Despres, Dumolin, Harrington were all touted to be nhl rdy and wouldn't be hurt as much in developement being a 6/7th dman.
Does this make Despres an obvious trade candidate or the fact he is on a 2way deal make it a buisness/cap move to leave him down while Maatta gets showcased?
The last thing I will mention is this does actually kind of hurt the pens defense size/physicality wise. Maatta isn't known as a hard hitting dman. He is only 6 foot 1. One of the percieved problems with the Pens defense has been a lack of size and hitting and ability to clear the front of the net. Orpik will be the only dman in the lineup on a regular basis that you could say would make forwards think twice about going into the corners or parking in front of the net.
