Blackhawks' trade for defenseman Olli Maatta won't be their last — and they know it

If Olli Maatta ends up being anything resembling the centerpiece of the Blackhawks’ offseason moves, then pack up your fandom for a season and head out of town.

Might I suggest St. Louis?

OK, that’s blasphemy, but not to worry because it shouldn’t come to that. Hawks general manager Stan Bowman has made it clear that acquiring Maatta, a 24-year-old defenseman, from the Penguins for Dominik Kahun and a 2019 fifth-round pick is only the beginning of what should be a very busy next few weeks.

The acquisition of Maatta on its face is hardly a curiosity. The Hawks have an abundance of young forwards and used one of them, Kahun, to bring in some sorely needed help on the blue line. Maatta is coming off one of his worst seasons and missed 21 games because of a shoulder injury, but he has a track record as a dependable, shot-blocking defenseman who knows how to defend in his zone.

What the trade didn’t do was clear up what — or rather who — comes next. It’s hard to imagine the Hawks dropping the puck against the Flyers on Oct. 4 in Prague with their current top six defensemen: Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Erik Gustafsson, Connor Murphy, Henri Jokiharju and Maatta.

And while Bowman isn’t promising there are more moves to come, it would be a shock if this is his final or biggest effort to clean up a defense whose deficiencies contributed to the Hawks allowing 292 goals last season, second-most in the league.

“We’re going to keep looking for ways to improve our team, not just the defense, but I’m not setting that aside either,” Bowman said Sunday during a conference call with reporters. “It’s still early in the process here, so as far as who’s going to be in our lineup on the opening night, that’s a long ways off and that’s not really the focus of the discussions we have right now.

“We’re trying to bring in as many options as we can because this is the time you get a chance to improve your team. Over the next month or so is when there’s a lot of player movement.”

The 6-foot-2, 206-pound Maatta is a slow skater, but that’s not a product of age or injury. He was also slow when he was playing 18 to 20 minutes a night while helping the Penguins win a pair of Stanley Cups. He arrives in Chicago with two very important skill sets: the ability to kill penalties and block shots, neither of which the Hawks were very good at last season.

“There’s a lot of things to like about Olli Maatta — certainly his strength in the last few seasons has been his ability to be a good, reliable defender,” Bowman said. “He’s got good size. He’s not necessarily a bruising defenseman, but I like the fact he’s got an active stick. He’s good at using his body to shield the front of the net. And he’s shown the ability to be used in several different situations over the past few years for Pittsburgh.”

Maatta returned from the shoulder injury to play in the Penguins’ final five regular-season games. After being in the lineup for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, he was a healthy scratch the final three games to cap a frustrating campaign.

“I’m not going to say it was a terrible season, but I (know) I can be way better than I played last season,” Maatta said. “(Chicago is) a new opportunity, that’s how you have to look at it, and I’m just trying to better myself that way.”

Maatta isn’t an insignificant piece. The Hawks expect him to return to form and be the solid presence he has been in the past.

But if he doesn’t pan out, there are other options within the organization — Carl Dahlstrom, Slater Koekkoek, Dennis Gilbert, Chad Krys, among others — who could earn a spot in the top six and make contributions.

There just aren’t any top-pairing guys available right now. Top defensive prospect Adam Boqvist, last year’s first-round pick, has the makings of a star, but he’s not expected to start the season with the Hawks.

Even if the Hawks draft defenseman Bowen Byram with the No. 3 pick this week, he’s not a certainty to make the team let alone be ready to handle the duties of a top-pairing guy.

Which is why the Maatta deal should be viewed as the first domino to fall and not the last.

It’s still early. It better be.

jgreenfield@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @jcgreenx

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