It’s amazing how a trade can turn everything around for someone. To go from a team where you hardly play at all to one where ice time is available in abundance, Olli Maatta certainly took advantage of the opportunity he was given with the Calgary Flames.

The Finnish defenceman began the year with the Utah Mammoth before being acquired by the Flames in the MacKenzie Weegar deal. Maatta had a rough go of it with Utah this season. It wasn’t until an opportunity to play at the Olympics and a fresh start via trade that things began to look up for the 13-year NHL veteran.

Hailing from Jyväskylä, Finland, the 22nd overall pick in 2012 has spent his 13 NHL seasons with six different teams. The best stretch of his career came during his first six seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. There, he recorded his career-high 29 points twice while helping the Penguins win Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

Maatta was acquired by the Utah Mammoth early in their inaugural season, where he continued to be what he had been throughout his career — a reliable third-pair defenceman. He logged roughly 20 minutes of ice time per night and recorded 16 points in 70 games.

That production was enough to earn him a three-year contract extension with Utah — his longest deal since his time with Pittsburgh. Expectations entering this season were that he would provide stability on Utah’s blue line as the team pushed to enter the playoff picture for the first time.

Utah expected more of the same from Maatta this season, but things could not have gone much worse. Early-season struggles, an upper-body injury and a roster logjam limited his playing time. At one point, Maatta was a healthy scratch for 21 consecutive games. He ended up dressing in only 22 games for Utah, recording a single assist.

Maatta was later included on Finland’s Olympic roster, where he played an important role on the bronze medal-winning team. He recorded one assist in six games while consistently matching up against the opposition’s top forwards.

As the trade deadline approached, Utah looked to bolster its blue line and went all in on acquiring Weegar from the Flames. At the time, Maatta appeared to be the piece that made the money work, but he quickly made the trade look like a strong one for Calgary.

In 21 games with the Flames, Maatta was not only one of Calgary’s best defencemen, but one of its top players over that stretch. He produced offence at a rate he had never reached before in his career. With two goals and 12 assists, Maatta played at roughly a 55-point pace. For a player who had never surpassed 29 points, he appeared to find another gear or two offensively.

On top of his offensive production, Maatta instantly stepped in as a veteran presence. He quickly became a mentor for young defencemen such as Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz and Yan Kuznetsov.

Maatta is under contract through 2028 and will likely continue to log important minutes on Calgary’s blue line next season while mentoring the organization’s young defencemen.

With the Flames still unlikely to contend for a playoff spot next season, Maatta could become a player the team looks to sell high on — especially if he can maintain the offensive pace he found late this past season.