Utah Hockey Club leader tested himself against the world’s best. Now he’s ready to get back to Salt Lake.

Boston • Olli Määttä walked onto Team Finland with a similar role he has for Utah Hockey Club.

Add stability and experience to a fractured blueline.

The defenseman represented Finland in the NHL’s first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off and, before its first game on Thursday, the team was down three players on the backend. Suddenly, his responsibility heightened — but it was nothing new to Määttä.

Utah acquired Määttä at the end of October from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft after it had dealt with its first wave of defensive injuries; namely, Sean Durzi and John Marino out for months.

Määttä was brought in to fill the gap. He has exceeded expectations. He did the same for Team Finland despite its tournament-ending 5-3 loss to Canada Monday afternoon at TD Garden.

“That experience that he has, especially playing with him, I’ve just learned so much from him. Like what you have to do in these types of games. The guy has a couple Stanley Cups already — that experience, it’s massive,” said defenseman Henri Jokiharju who skated on a pair with Määttä for Team Finland. “Playing with him is one of the best things that happened to me, for sure.”

Jokiharju, who is on the Buffalo Sabres, was a late addition to Finland’s roster as was the New York Rangers’ Urho Vaakanainen. The Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen, Toronto Maple Leafs’ Jani Hakanpää and Philadelphia Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen were initially important pieces of Finland’s defensive core, but all got injured before the tournament started and could not play.

It somewhat mirrored the domino effect the Club’s D-corps has endured, playing at times without Durzi, Marino, Mikhail Sergachev, Robert Bortuzzo and Maveric Lamoureux.

Määttä has gotten familiar with the next-man-up mentality and carried it over to the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“I think everybody stepped up. Obviously, we missed those guys and I’m sure they’re not happy that they couldn’t be here,” Määttä said. “But I think everybody stepped up and all-in-all I think it was a great experience.”

Määttä logged two assists and 20 minutes of average ice time through three games with Finland. As of Monday’s game against Canada, Määttä was one of three defensemen — including the USA’s Zach Werenski and Brock Faber — with two or more assists.

“He can play both ways really well — offensively, defensively,“ Jokiharju said. “I think he’s kind of an underrated player in my mind.”

Määttä has played for Finland on the international stage since the 2009-10 season including the U16 and U18 tournament, three appearances at the World Junior Championship and the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. It is part of what has made him such an effective player any time he puts the “Suomi” jersey on.

“Every time when he has been part of the Finnish national team, he has played at a really good level,” Finland head coach Antti Pennanen said of Määttä. “Also in this tournament, he has been one of our key players. He is one of the leaders — quiet leader, but one of the backend leaders. Really important player for us.”

Among all the events he has represented Finland in, the 4 Nations Face-Off stood out for Määttä. It is the first time the NHL has put on the international best-on-best tournament in place of the All-Star events and games that previously took place during this week.

This season’s rendition features Finland, of course, the United States, Canada and Sweden. With Canada’s win over Finland, it is slated to face the U.S. in Thursday’s championship game. Each 4 Nations team is composed of 23 NHL players (20 skaters, three goalies) and was put together by the respective national hockey associations of each country.

“This is probably the most skill in a tournament there has been. I don’t think there was ever a question if you were playing your heart out or not. I think everybody does,” Määttä said. “Compared to the World Cup and the Olympics, I think this is up there. I think skill-wise and pace-wise, probably the highest.”

The 4 Nations Face-Off, and the players that made the rosters, serve as somewhat of a primer for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. It will mark the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games that NHL players have been allowed to participate in the Olympics.

Based on the performances from all the countries during the 4 Nations Face-Off, Olympic hockey is poised to be the most entertaining it has been in years.

“I think the whole tournament, every game, it was such a high pace,” Määttä said. “You can see how much skill is out there. I feel like it wasn’t hard to get up for any of these games — you’re playing the best players in the world.”

That sentiment was all too evident for Määttä and his teammates against Canada in what turned out to be their final game of the round-robin event.

Canada earned a 3-0 lead with goals from Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Brayden Point in the first period to push Finland out of the game early. MacKinnon potted his second goal of the afternoon five minutes into the second period to make it 4-0. Finland proceeded to pull Kevin Lankinen from net and replace him with Juuse Saros.

While there was a push — including two goals from Mikael Granlund and one from Esa Lindell in the latter half of the third period — an empty-net tally from Sidney Crosby with less than a minute left in regulation sealed Finland’s 5-3 loss.

“I just wish we had a little more today, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Määttä said. “Canada was definitely better.”

Through the good and the bad, Määttä’s leadership is something that was lauded by his teammates and coaches. The 30-year-old is not the most vocal person but took charge through his actions on the ice and how he carried himself off of it.

“He has the most experience out of us, all the defensemen. It’s huge. He’s been really solid for us in this tournament,” Vaakanainen said. “He’s a great guy, too. He’s a leader in the locker room.”

That likely comes as no surprise to a Utah team and fanbase that has watched Määttä become a quiet force on the backend. When Marino was sidelined, Määttä skated on the first pair with Sergachev and is now playing with Nick DeSimone. He has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) through 53 games and is averaging a career-high 20:48 of ice time a night.

Määttä — like he did on Team Finland — has embraced his role of playing strong, simple and steady hockey while benefiting his group’s overall load management.

And, now that the 4 Nations Face-Off is over for Finland, he is ready to get back in the hunt with Utah Hockey Club.

“I’ll take a couple of days off. Obviously, it’s good seeing the guys are getting after it again,” Määttä said. “I honestly can’t wait to join the team again. We have a great stretch of games coming up. Seems like we have most of the guys healthy again. It’s going to be awesome.”