Maple Leafs need a new winger to play with Auston Matthews. Why they're betting on Matias Maccelli
was about to make a putt on a golf course in Turku, Finland when his buddy started screaming that he'd been traded to the
Toronto Maple Leafs
.
'I didn't make that putt, but I still played a decent round,' Maccelli said in an introductory conference call with reporters Monday. 'I was obviously super pumped, excited to be the part of the Leafs.'
Maccelli is a 24-year-old, five-foot-11, left-shot playmaking winger who has played both side of the ice.
There's a decent chance Maccelli auditions on right wing, in the spot vacated by Mitch Marner. That's prime real estate, given
Auston Matthews
would be his centre with Matthew Knies on the left wing.
'I would definitely love that,' Maccelli said. 'Playing with guys like that would be great. So I'll make sure I'll be in shape. If I get a chance to play with Auston or any of the top guys in Toronto, that would be super good.'
That's probably the idea when GM Brad Treliving acquired him for a conditional third-round pick in 2027. It would become a second-round draft pick in 2029 if Maccelli records at least 51 points in the 2025-26 NHL season.
'We just felt at the price that it cost us that this was a chance for a young player who's got some dynamic skill and ability,' Treliving said recently about the trade. 'It was certainly worth a bet.'
It was a buy-low trade for Treliving as he looks around for top-six winger. Maccelli turned into just that three seasons ago in Arizona, with 11 goals, 38 assists that earned him some votes as rookie of the year in 2022-23. He finished fourth in voting for the Calder trophy.
He followed that up with 17 goals and 40 assists to finish third in team scoring. But the team's move to Utah brought some bumps, and in particular, bruises. Injuries left him behind the eight-ball, and he fell out of favour with the coaching staff. He averaged just 13 minutes 44 seconds of ice time, the lowest of his career. He ended the season with eight goals, 10 assists and a minus-13.
'It comes down to ice time and opportunity,' Maccelli said. 'It wasn't obviously the best year for me. But I know I'm a better player than (that). I've got it in me so I'll, I've got to show people that again.'
Maccelli was at his peak when he was at left wing, with centre Nick Bjugstad and right wing Lawson Crouse. He played more with those two than with any other pair. In the 2023-24 season — the last for the Coyotes — the three were Arizona's top line in terms of possession. No combination of those two without the other fared as well as all three together.
So it's perhaps even more likely Maccelli will end up on the left wing with John Tavares.
'He was a player that our staff had been excited about for a while,' Treliving said. 'With some of the players that we have, ultimately it will come down to the fits and the matches and where they all go. So you play around with it on the board.'
Maccelli, born in Finland to an American mother whose last name he uses, played two years in the USHL for the Dubuque Fighting Saints. He has represented Finland both on its world junior team and its national senior team. He played in the Finnish top league (for Ilves) and in the American Hockey League before getting the call to the Coyotes. He has yet to play in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
'I've been working a lot this summer on my game, more than previous years,' he said. 'I have to be comfortable again with the puck and making plays.
'(Doing) a lot of stuff in the gym trying to get stronger, faster, and then some stuff on the ice. Shooting and passing. Normal stuff. Just trying to get some reps.'
He has no links to the Maple Leafs other than Shane Doan, who was an executive in Arizona before joining Treliving's staff.
'I'm super, super excited for this opportunity to play for the Leafs next year. And I can't wait to get going.'
Maple Leafs winger Nick Robertson was among 11 players who elected for salary arbitration over the weekend. Both sides can continue to negotiate. Arbitration hearings will be held from July 20 to Aug. 4. Robertson also announced he married his girlfriend, Emma. 'Same team forever,' he posted on Instagram.
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