TORONTO — When the Utah Mammoth traded Matias Maccelli to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of his platform campaign, the club was betting on a parlay.
The third-round draft choice Utah received from Toronto in exchange for the shifty winger would be upgraded to a second-rounder if (a) Maccelli racked up 51 points and (b) the Maple Leafs qualified for the playoffs.
Neither happened.
Neither came close to happening.
Which is crummy news for the Mammoth and now leaves the Maple Leafs and Maccelli in an uncomfortable position.
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Miles out of a wild card and still 10 points shy of his rookie total, Maccelli sits down in his stall following a recent morning skate and discusses his uncertain future.
“I want to stay in Toronto. I love the city and love the guys and everything about it. So, I would love to stay,” Maccelli tells Sportsnet.ca.
“I mean, it’s like the biggest hockey city there is in the world, and the most recognizable team, and the fans and the city and everything about it — it’s just great.”
Maccelli, 25, is just one piece of the puzzling Maple Leafs who has been a shade less than great this season.
The Turku, Finland, native’s stat line — 14 goals and 25 assists through 70 games — is far from horrible but, given his top-six opportunity and 57-point peak as a 23-year-old in Arizona, it is underwhelming.
A receding tide lowers all boats.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating for all the guys here. I mean, I don’t really have much to say about it. To be honest, it’s just disappointing that we put ourselves in this position where we aren’t in the playoffs,” Maccelli says.
Maccelli was gifted an early look on Auston Matthews’s wing only to eventually tumble to healthy-scratch status, as he did for a stretch in Utah last season. But his production and presence saw a late uptick, and he’s enjoyed some highlight-worthy offensive moments as a top-six regular while the injury-riddled Leafs skate out the string.
“It’s all about opportunity,” Maccelli says. “You get a little more ice time, and then you start feeling better with the puck, without the puck, and you start playing better and feel more comfortable out there. And I’ve just got more trust from the coaches in the second half.”
True. Craig Berube has featured Maccelli more on the power-play and in key offensive situations down the stretch than the coach did when the Leafs were in the postseason fight.
“Well, he’s been a lot better,” Berube says. “He went through a real good stretch there not long ago where he was doing some real good things and putting points on the board. He’s got to get back to that. I think it’s dropped off a bit lately, but we need him to be a point producer for us.”
That will be the case in 2026-27 for Toronto or whatever club Maccelli represents.
The crafty playmaker’s takeaway-to-giveaway ratio (14-65) is far from kind, his plus/minus (-22) is a yikes, and Berube never truly trusted the forward defensively.
Maccelli started just 35.5 per cent of his shifts in the D-zone this season, a career low.
Among the Maple Leafs’ long list of improvements to be in the mix next season is a reshaping of the type of support forwards they deploy.
Maccelli, Max Domi, and Nick Robertson are all smallish, streaky contributors with useful offensive tools; they all have defensive flaws.
How many players of that ilk does one organization need?
If general manager TBD elects to retain Maccelli, he’ll either need to negotiate an extension with the impending RFA prior to June 30 or sign off on a qualify offer of $4.11 million — a tidy raise from the $3.425 million Maccelli is making on the final year of his deal.
Maccelli, though, is but one of four Toronto RFA forwards armed with arbitration rights this summer. Robertson, Jacob Quillan, and Ryan Tverberg are the others. The Leafs can’t re-sign them all with pay raises.
Choose wisely.
Last off-season, the Maple Leafs elected not to qualify RFAs Alex Steeves (now with Boston) and Pontus Holmberg (Tampa Bay). Both late-blooming forwards became unrestricted free agents and have enjoyed career years with their new clubs. Both are headed to the postseason.
Which is where Maccelli believes the Maple Leafs will return next season. And he hopes to be part of that redemption.
“You still see the guys in this room. Honestly, there weren’t many changes from last year, and they were first in the division,” Maccelli says.
“So, I’m confident that with this group and all these guys, and how many good players we’ve got in this locker room, we’ll be right back next year.”
