The Toronto Maple Leafs saw an opportunity and took it, acquiring a 25-year-old winger with some promise just because the Utah Mammoth want to change their roster around.
Announced by the team on Monday afternoon, the Maple Leafs have acquired Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth for a conditional 2027 third-round pick.
TRADE: We’ve acquired Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth in exchange for a conditional third-round selection in 2027 pic.twitter.com/2Q23ThZL87
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) June 30, 2025
The conditions on the pick feel extremely calculated. If Maccelli scores 51 points next season, it will turn into a 2029 second-round pick. Maybe it's just a number they picked from a hat, or selected the point total just above what they expect from the young winger.
The 5-foot-11 winger is signed for a one more year on a contract that carries a $3.425-million AAV and he will be a restricted free agent next summer.
Why would the Mammoth part ways with Maccelli?
Maccelli has had some very weird first years of an NHL career. The Finnish winger was a fourth-round draft pick all the way back in 2019 and after having a very good rookie AHL season in 2021-22, scoring 57 points in 47 games, he made the then-Coyotes as a full-time player and immediately started producing.
In 64 games during the 2022-23 season, he scored 11 goals and 49 points in 64 games while averaging just 15:41 TOI. An 18.0 shooting percentage might not have been as projectable as possible, but he was putting up buckets of points as someone who just came from overseas two years prior. And in the following season, he increased that production with 17 goals, 57 points while playing in all 82 games and getting a decent boost in minutes.
So, what happened last season?
In 55 games, Maccelli scored just eight goals and 18 points and averaged a career-low 13:44 TOI. He was in and out of the lineup all season long and after general manager Bill Armstrong gave him a sizeable raise and bet on his previous years, the dollars just didn't match what they were using the player for.
Even after a disappointing season, Maccelli is a player that is easy to take a chance on. He has done it for two past years and just hit a snag that he couldn't get out of -- shooting at a career-low and not being used to the best of his abilities on a Utah team that had higher expectations.
For just a mediocre draft pick (potentially), the Leafs got a 25-year-old winger that is still under team control for three more seasons and has the potential to be a 50-point player. They addressed the scoring depth problem and not by just getting some old veteran with experience, but someone who can be on this team for much longer.