Penguins Update: What’s the Maatta with Olli?

It’s a question I’ve posed—and had posed to me—by numerous hockey pals. Especially over the past year.

What’s the Maatta with Olli (pun intended)? Or more to the point, what’s the matter with Olli Maatta’s skating?

A puzzler, to be sure. While the 22-year-old Penguins defenseman still possesses keen instincts and skills, not to mention the cool head that inspired Pens assistant coach Rick Tocchet to label him “a video-game defenseman,” his once strong skating has deteriorated right before our eyes.

I first noticed his struggles last December. Shortly after Maatta returned to the lineup following a three-week absence due to a lower-body injury, courtesy of a questionable hit by Minnesota’s Nino Niedereitter.

Suddenly, opposing forwards were blowing past the former London Knights star at an alarming clip. Maatta seemed especially vulnerable when forced to turn. His ponderous first strides…almost painful to watch.

I chalked up his difficulties to lingering effects of the injury—rumored to involve his lower back and hips—and figured his mobility issues would fade over time. Only they never did. To the point where the one-time wunderkind was a healthy scratch during the 2016 playoffs before Trevor Daley’s busted ankle paved the way for a return.

Perhaps Maatta just needed a full summer of R & R to recover from the rigors of a long season, I reasoned. Then I caught the World Cup match between Sweden and Finland in September. No sooner had I glanced at the TV than an unidentified Swedish forward left Maatta in the dust.

So what’s happened? How did the promising youngster morph from dazzling 18-year-old rookie into a fuzzy-cheeked version of Rob Scuderi? One who’s tallied a lone assist a third of the way through the current campaign.

I’ll share a few thoughts.

First, I reference my own exceedingly modest athletic prowess. As a young man, I was never especially fast. I was, however, fairly quick and nimble, with a decent sense of anticipation.

Then, in my late 20s, I discovered resistance training. Gradually, over the course of a few years, my weight ballooned from 160 pounds to a high of around 210, packed onto a 5’9” frame. While my strength greatly increased, I lost any semblance of the agility I possessed as a youth.

Indeed, I became so bulky and heavy footed that I once was ingloriously picked off first base during a slo-pitch softball game while anchored mere inches from the bag.

Humbling and embarrassing, to say the least.

As a natural part of his maturation process, Maatta appears to have filled out. Could the extra weight be impeding his skating to a degree?

Medical history may be a factor, too. The kid’s been through an awful lot. In addition to two procedures on the same shoulder, he underwent successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his thyroid gland in November of 2014.

The thyroid releases hormones that regulate vital body functions. Everything from metabolism to breathing to heart rate to body weight to nervous system activity.

I wonder if Maatta is experiencing post-surgery problems. Perhaps relating to hormonal imbalances or deficiencies.

To Olli’s credit, he’s adapted his game to mitigate his weaknesses. Mindful that opposing forwards pressure him with a kamikaze fervor whenever he sets up at the point, he’s extremely prudent about joining the rush.

He’s done a much better job of anticipating transitions and cutting down on the turnovers that plagued him for a time. And, even with his skating diminished, Maatta paced all black-and-gold defensemen with a plus-27 last season. He’s currently third among Pens’ defenders with a plus-9.

Still, the mouth-watering upside that led GM Jim Rutherford to ink the young Finn to a six-year extension last February seems to have waned.

At least for now.