For Blackhawks, finally healthy Olli Maatta is functionally the new Calvin de Haan

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Defenseman Calvin de Haan was placed on injured reserve Thursday, retroactive to Tuesday, and although a final status has not been messaged to Jeremy Colliton, the Blackhawks coach said it was “likely” de Haan will be out long-term.

So hello, Olli Maatta.

Maatta, finally feeling close to full health after recovering from a mysterious, resilient illness that kept him out the past four games, will rejoin the Hawks’ lineup Thursday night against the Coyotes. He will be asked to fill a very similar role to the one de Haan vacated.

“Handy that we have him now, because we miss Cal,” Colliton said.

“They have a similar profile. Defensive, puck-moving [defensemen who] try to kill penalties for us and play a simple game. So hopefully he can bring that for us.”

De Haan exits the lineup as the Hawks’ far-and-away leader in both blocked shots (his 58 are 10 more than second-place Brent Seabrook) and hits (his 84 are 22 more than second-place Andrew Shaw). Although the reliability and value of those stats — especially the latter — is debatable, there’s no doubt that de Haan’s conservative responsibility filled a valuable niche in the Hawks’ otherwise shaky defense.

“It’s really tough for us to see him go down,” Maatta said. “He’s been playing big minutes and very important minutes on the PK, so that’s something. The other guys are going to get more ice time there, and we’ll have to do a better job.”

Fortunately, Maatta also stands out in both those categories: he’s fourth on the team with 36 blocked shots and third with 47 hits.

And now he’s feeling healthy at last.

“When you’ve been down for five days, it’s more to just get back in shape,” he said. “Legs [and] lungs, and it just feels like you get gassed a little more easily. At least it was for the first skates I had. I finally feel pretty good.”

The Hawks will hope Maatta can functionally become the new de Haan during the weeks, or months, that the latter misses.