Blackhawks trade Olli Maatta to Kings, creating much-needed cap space

The Blackhawks’ bleak salary-cap situation improved significantly Sunday.

The Hawks traded serviceable but overpaid defenseman Olli Maatta, 26, to the Kings, acquiring minor-league forward Brad Morrison in exchange.

Although the Hawks will retain $750,108 of Maatta’s $4,083,333 cap hit for each of the remaining two years on his contract, the move still saves more than $3.3 million.

That gives them about $11.1 million in cap space, according to Capfriendly, to try to re-sign their glut of free agents, including Corey Crawford, Dylan Strome, Dominik Kubalik, Drake Caggiula and Slater Koekkoek. With Maatta’s contract mostly gone, general manager Stan Bowman’s task looks a lot more practical.

Maatta and veteran Calvin de Haan were brought in last summer from the Penguins and Hurricanes, respectively, to try to fix the Hawks’ leaky defense.

And Maatta did improve as the season went on — especially after Koekkoek became his third-pairing partner midway through — and even enjoyed a strangely fantastic playoffs, but he never made as much of an impact as Bowman initially hoped.

Maatta finished the season with 17 points in 65 games, averaging 18:25 of ice time. His 47.5% on-ice scoring-chance ratio ranked 19th on the team.

He was considered a potential buyout candidate entering the fall, but that move would’ve kept his contract on the books — albeit in reduced fashion — for four more years instead of two. A trade works out better for all parties.

In Los Angeles, Maatta should take on a larger role with lower expectations. And the Kings were able to acquire him for a much cheaper price than the Hawks paid last year, when they dealt solid third-line center Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round pick to the Pens.

Morrison, 23, was a 2015 fourth-round pick of the Rangers but has not followed a promising career track since.

He had 20 points in 50 AHL games in 2018-19 but fell to the ECHL last season. He had 19 points in 17 games with the Fort Wayne Komets before suffering an injury Dec. 1 and missing the rest of the season. He was likely included in the swap as a throw-in to make it one-for-one, not because the Hawks had a specific interest in him.

The trade comes less than a week after Bowman talked openly about the Hawks possibly trading veteran defensemen to make room for prospects coming up the pipeline.

“It’s always better when you’re trying to push one of those younger players into the lineup; that means you can move an established player,” he said. “Because around the league, there are always teams looking for established NHL defensemen. If we get to that point, we’re dealing from a good position.”

It seems the Hawks did get to that point, opening the door even more for Ian Mitchell, Nicolas Beaudin, Dennis Gilbert and recently signed Wyatt Kalynuk to compete for NHL jobs next season.

Of more immediate relevance, though, Maatta’s departure somewhat clears up the financial situation

Qualifying offers for restricted free agents are due by Wednesday, and unrestricted free agency opens Friday at 11 a.m. Crawford would hit the open market if not re-signed before then.

It now looks much more plausible that Bowman will be able to successfully fit in Crawford, Strome and Kubalik, all of whom will command at least $3 million-$4 million in annual salary.