The 2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs season is coming fast but before the games truly matter, we at Editor In Leaf are taking a look at one player everyday until the puck is dropped, and what we could expect from them this time around.
Plenty of Toronto Maple Leafs will be haunted by the name Mitch Marner, but fair or not, Matias Maccelli may inspire the most comparisons of all.
Both are smallish wingers. While you should expect a mammoth gap in actual production, each forward boasts sometimes-dazzling passing skills. Critics may at times even complain that passing is too often their first, second, and last options.
Heck, they both even have alliterative names starting with an "M."
Ultimately, it's almost unthinkable that the Utah castout will rank anywhere near Toronto's jilted ex-lover, but that shouldn't be the standard for judging the 98th pick of the 2019 NHL Draft.
A season finished deep in the Utah doghouse
Maccelli clearly lost his former Andre Tourigny's faith last season. Utah made the 24-year-old a healthy scratch for a whopping 13 consecutive games, and he only appeared in six games since Feb. 2, rarely receiving decent ice time.
He broke out during the 2022-23 season with 49 points in 64 games, then set a career-high 17 goals and 57 points in 2023-24. Naturally, last season's 18 points in 55 games represent a miserable drop-off, then.
Generally speaking, players land in a coach's doghouse for at least some good reason. That said, there can be extenuating circumstances, and certain bits of context that point toward better days with a clean slate.
To start, smaller players often get shorter leashes than, say, grinders who don't really drive play in a meaningful way. After averaging 15:41 and 16:14 minutes per game, Maccelli logged just 13:44 per night last season -- at least when he wasn't riding the bench altogether.
Expect better luck
Looking under the hood, last season wasn't that radical a change of pace from his typical solid-but-unspectacular play-driving ways.
His production was down, and some of that is on him, but there is a bit of a luck factor. A drop in shooting percentage is notable, but with a playmaker, plummeting on-ice shooting percentage can be just as much of a smoking gun. After percentages of 12.1 and 11.6-percent the previous two seasons, his mark slipped to a very unlucky 6.7 in 2024-25.
It's hard to imagine things getting worse.
“I still know I’m a better player than I was," Maccelli said during a July media availability, via The Athletic. "I know I still have it in me. Now, I’ve just got to show people again."
The essential linemate factor
Entering on a contract year, the stakes are absolutely huge for Maccelli to secure a spot on one of the top two forward lines, preferably for him with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. At minimum, he needs to find a way to stick with the other dynamite duo of John Tavares and William Nylander.
Max Domi looms as the most immediate threat. Broadly, both carry similarities as left-handed wingers who are past-first and limited defensively. Domi's weaknesses are more glaring, but the Leafs may be seduced by his feisty nature and considerable speed. There may also be the added comfort level of past experience with Domi experiencing a certain level of success on that line.
Of course, there are other threats. Nicholas Robertson could finally click rather than getting traded. Easton Cowan leads the list of possible wildcard prospects. A hard-nosed coach such as Craig Berube may want someone like Dakota Joshua to "open up space" for star forwards, or to see if Nicolas Roy could flourish in an elevated role.
These are all serious threats, as the Maple Leafs sorely lack offensive punch in their depth ranks.
It's easy to picture him being a former Coyote turned diamond in the rough for the Leafs like a pass-happy Michael Bunting. Uncomfortably, it's just as easy to picture Berube souring on a smaller "perimeter player" and for Maccelli to endure an ugly sequel to last season.
This is ultimately a wise gamble for the Maple Leafs, but remains to be seen if they hit the jackpot, go bust, or simply break even.