Trade completed Between Utah and Detroit Shares Blackhawks Connections
Elliotte Friedman of the 32 Thoughts podcast announced that a trade took place last evening between the Utah hockey club and the Detroit Red Wings.
The Red Wings sent former Blackhawks connection Olli Maata to the Utah Hockey Club in exchange for a third-round pick in 2025. Maata Spent one season with the Blackhawks in 2019-20 where he played 65 games, scored four goals with 13 assists for 17 points and had 20 penalty minutes.
This deal also holds another Blackhawks connection as the third-round pick that was originally a conditional pick sent to the Arizona Coyotes involving Patrick Kane's major trade back in February 2023 when he was sent to the Rangers from the Blackhawks but required salary retention which the Coyotes provided of $2.625 million and received the conditional draft pick.
This trade was completed since the Utah hockey club is without the services of top defenseman Sean Durzi who suffered a terrible injury which will keep him out for months.
It's rare to see trades this early in the season but sometimes teams need to make deals in order to fulfill holes that are in their lineup. Utah started off fast and rattled off several wins up until Durzi's injury and since the team has fallen to .500.
It remains to be seen whether Maata will help Utah but he's only played seven games this year for Detroit has no points and has played 15 minutes and 52 seconds of average ice time.
