Done Deal: Chicago and LA Kings complete a trade

As we reported back on August 18th, Olli Maatta fell out of favor in Chicago and we mentioned then he's likely to be moved. Today, the LA Kings and Chicago Blackhawks announced a deal, and sure enough, Maatta is on his way out of town.

The deal sends Maatta to the Kings and the Blackhawks acquire minor-leaguer forward Brad Morrison. The move is purely a salary dump, as Chicago frees themselves up of millions of dollars with this trade. Even with retaining over $750,000 of Maatta's salary, the Blackhawks cut over $3 million dollars of salary for the next two seasons.

The #blackhawks retain $750,108 of Olli Maatta's $4,083,333 salary/cap hit.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 4, 2020

The Kings see Maatta as the perfect fit for their up-and-coming defense and will likely be paired with recently extended RHD Sean Walker on the team's second pair. 

Kings GM, Rob Blake had this to say about bringing Maatta on board:

Olli is a well-rounded player who will fit well with our group of defensemen. He is a young player that already has a lot of valuable NHL experience, including a pair of Stanley Cups, and we look forward to having him join our organization.

Chicago is one team to keep an eye on as they search for a starting goaltender and now have some more money the work with. As for the Kings, their in full rebuild mode and are ready to go with the #2 selection on Tuesday.

Photo credit: Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire