Toronto Maple Leafs: Noel Acciari More Than Just a Throw-in

It’s been just over three weeks since the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari as part of a three-team trade.

Despite an injury to O’Reilly, both players have shown they can be important parts of this Toronto Maple Leafs roster.

Since the trade, many have been referring to the trade as “The O’Reilly Trade” or seem to be gauging the success of the trade based on how O’Reilly plays or if he signs with the Leafs in the off-season.

Many seem to be forgetting that the trade’s success is not solely based on O’Reilly but also on what Acciari brings to the team.

Let’s take a look at what Acciari can bring to this team and give him a review based on his start in Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Noel Acciari

Noel Acciari or “Cookie” as he’s nicknamed is a 5’10” right-handed centre, who can chip in both offensively and defensively while not being afraid to throw the body, finding himself top 10 in hits in the league.

Since being traded, he has mostly found himself playing on the Leafs’ fourth line.

A key thing that Acciari brings to the table is his faceoff success, as he has been above a 50% win rate since 2020 and finds himself averaging 53.6% this season. It is never bad to have depth down the middle for the playoffs and the Leafs have lots of it with Matthews, Tavares, O’Reilly, Kämpf, Acciari, and Lafferty as natural centre options.

Not only is Acciari a solid faceoff man, he also is a right-handed shot.

As many may remember, last year Jason Spezza and Kämpf were often the go-to players for defensive zone draws. When Spezza retired, it left the team without a natural right-handed centreman in the lineup.

With Acciari (and Lafferty), the Leafs can now optimize their faceoff matchups and help give their defensive centres better matchups based on which way the opposing centre shoots.

This is one of the luxuries of home-ice advantage, but with the level of depth this team has down the middle now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lafferty and Acciari paired with a left-handed centre taking the matchups that favour a right-handed shot while leaving the matchups that are less favourable for them to their left-handed centres.

Now, back to Acciari and what he brings to the table. I do believe the versatility he brings down the middle as just discussed is the biggest factor, but his physicality is another main factor.

With Acciari, the Toronto Maple Leafs have an energizer who has helped to bring the bottom six to life. It’s great having defensive forwards who rarely have goals go in against them while they’re on the ice, but for a playoff run, the Leafs needed someone hard to play against who brings energy and momentum during their shift.

I’d like to see Acciari start to pitch in more offensively (which he did last night with a pair of goals) but his physical and defensive efforts have given a boost to the lineup so far, as shown by his 58% Expected Goals Rating so far with the Leafs.

Acciari can help swing momentum in the Toronto Maple Leafs favour through his physicality, presence and faceoff skill and he’s been just as good as advertised.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Leafs pursue a contract extension with him this off-season. We’ll see how the rest of the season plays out, but with what Acciari brings to the table, he’s certainly not just a “throw-in”.