Having spent his junior years with the Owen Sound Platers of the OHL, Maltby was selected in the third round, 65th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1992 Draft. Maltby spent his entire rookie year at the Cape Breton Oilers of the AHL and played his first NHL season in 1993 playing 68 games and scoring 11 goals and 8 assists for 19 points and 74 penalty minutes. He played for the Oilers another 2 seasons before moving to the Detroit Red Wings during the 1995–96 NHL season, in which he was traded on March 20 by the Oilers to the Red Wings in exchange for defenceman Dan McGillis.