Veteran defenseman signed three-year extension on Monday
André Tourigny paused for a long moment to ponder the question.
Where would Utah Hockey Club be without Olli Määttä?
“Whew!” Utah’s coach said. “That’s a legit question.
“With the important injuries we had on defense to John Marino and Sean Durzi, that was a key addition by [GM] Bill [Armstrong], at the key moment when the team needed it most. No doubt about it.”
When Utah acquired Määttä from Detroit for a 2025 third-round pick on Oct. 29, he didn’t arrive expecting to log 20:41 of ice time per game — his highest average since his second NHL season in 2014-15.
He didn’t expect to be thrust into every possible situation Tourigny and the staff could find for him. Nor did he expect to sign a three-year contract extension on Monday.
But that is one of Määttä’s most endearing qualities. He doesn’t dwell on the past, and he doesn’t look to the future. He just rolls with the current reality.
When Määttä was diagnosed with thyroid cancer that required surgery to remove a tumor at the start of the 2014-15 season, he was back in the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup two weeks later, and reluctant to discuss his treatment and recovery because he didn’t want to diminish others’ “more serious battles with cancer.”
Despite two surgeries on the same shoulder and a scary core injury that probably impacted his development and potential, he never wavered in his resolve, and he never worried about what might have been.
“I’ve always had this mindset of just accepting that things are going to happen to you,” Määttä, 30, said. “If you just work hard and do your best daily, things will end up working out for you.”
It’s an approach that has earned him fans at every stop of his NHL career, whether it’s Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, former Penguins assistant and current Canucks coach Rick Toccchet, London Knights vice president and GM Mark Hunter, Määttä’s agent, JP Barry, the beat writers who covered him in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit, or his current teammates and coaches, all of whom praise him.
“When we got him, the guys who coached him in Pittsburgh reached out right away and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a hell of a pro and he will help your team,'” Tourigny said. “Normally when you get a player, you don’t get that much traction and that many people who reach out and want to share their views or their opinion on him. So right away we knew, ‘Okay, he’s not just a guy.’ Wherever he goes, there’s a vibe around him.”
The vibe that Armstrong was hoping would help trim his team’s goals against was the poise that Määttä exhibits on a nightly basis.
“He just brings that veteran presence that calms our guys down and settles the game down,” Utah’s GM said.
It’s a vibe that Barry, Määttä’s longtime agent, says is uniquely Finnish.
“He’s got that Sisu thing,” Barry said. “He’s a warrior.”
Tourigny said the staff knew what to expect from Määttä’s game, but “he does everything we were expecting better than we were expecting.
“He never looks fazed by a moment or situation on the ice. The game of hockey asks you questions all the time in the sense that there’s stuff happening out there where it was not scripted. It’s not X and Os. You need to read, you need to react, you need to have a feel. Olli can sort out situations and answer the questions the game asks by himself. He has the right read. That’s what experience brings.”
That’s a far more detailed description of Määttä’s game than you will get from the player himself. Määttä is loath to discuss his own virtues, even when prodded three times.
“That’s a tough question,” he said, laughing, “but I would say it’s not very fancy and it shouldn’t be.
“You’ve got to defend well, but another part is just breaking out and moving pucks to our forwards because we’ve got a very skilled forward group. They can make plays so as a D, you’ve got to make sure you get the puck to them at full speed so they can go and make things happen. I think we’re very successful as a team when we have a lot of pace in our game because it’s tough for other teams to keep up with that.”
With Durzi and Marino healthy and Utah in a playoff race, it is reasonable to expect Määttä’s minutes to dip. Tourigny and the coaching staff want to spread the minutes around to keep everyone fresh, and they can because they have better depth than at any point in Tourigny’s coaching tenure with this group.
That said, Tourigny does not expect Määttä’s role to diminish to the point of being a bit or depth player because Durzi and Marino are back in the lineup. Nor does he envision it diminishing in the near future when top prospects such as Dmitri Simashev and Maveric Lamoureux are ready for NHL action.
“He’s playing top-four minutes for us, and he’s playing important minutes on special teams. That’s where I see him fitting for us in the future,” Tourigny said. “When push comes to shove, you need good veterans who will be capable of being level-headed and capable of performing under pressure. He showed he can play those minutes. He can play in those key situations, and he’s a really good role model for our young guys.
“I think he will continue to be that kind of example, and with the way he prepares himself every day, I think he’s the perfect example for our young guys who are here, and our young guys who will be here.”
Määttä has been living in what he termed “temporary” housing since the trade. Despite the security of a three-year extension he has not given much thought of a more permanent home in Utah. Not yet, anyway.
“There’s just too much going on with hockey to worry about that,” he said. “I’m just focused on the season and us making the playoffs.”
That said, Määttä is thrilled that the team has decided it wants him around as it tries to take this big step from playoff contender to Cup contender over the next few years.
“It means a lot to me,” he said. “It shows they have confidence and trust in you.
“At the same time it does put pressure on you to perform and I think that’s a good thing. I think it’s a privilege to be in this situation. Now you’ve got to perform.”
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