5 potential trade destinations for Maple Leafs’ Matias Maccelli

The Toronto Maple Leafs are interested in trading forward Matias Maccelli.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs are gauging the trade market on the struggling winger, and may be able to find a suitor for Maccelli in a few different teams that were interested in trading for him during last summer. This was around the same time Toronto’s GM Brad Treliving decided to move a conditional third-round pick to Utah to finalize the deal.

Maccelli hasn’t been a fit for the Maple Leafs this season and can’t seem to gain Craig Berube’s trust with his style of play. A couple of weeks back when Maccelli was initially scratched, I felt then the team should consider trading Maccelli, so it’s no surprise to hear conversations are ongoing.

Here’s five potential trade destinations for the struggling winger:

Nashville Predators

Easy first target, as the Predators are open to making some changes this season. Nashville is among the worst in the league, and the disappointment could force GM Barry Trotz to start pulling the trigger on a few deals.

Trotz could see Maccelli as a bounce-back candidate with a change of scenery, and out of spotlight of Toronto. Considering he’s 25, and had 57 points two seasons ago, it’s not out of the question that there’s some untapped potential in his game. The Preds have almost $10 million in cap space, so there’s some flexibility with this potential trade, however, if Nashville is interested in Maccelli, the Leafs need to re-acquire Michael Bunting in the deal.

Bunting’s a pending unrestricted free agent, he’d give the Leafs top line a much different look without Max Domi on it, and maybe it’s Bunting’s tenacity and in-your-face style that Auston Matthews needs to have on his wing to help him claw back to being the dominant number-one center the Leafs are hopeful he’ll be for a long time.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken are among the worst offensive teams in the league and there’s been rumblings they’re considering making some changes up front. Maccelli could be on their radar as someone to take a flyer on, and with him being a pending restricted free agent, this is much more than just acquiring a ‘rental’. There’s team control for another season, which gives Maccelli an added boost of trade value.

While Maccelli’s play hasn’t helped, his style of play hasn’t been a fit with Berube’s expectations, and GM’s around the league see that as much as anyone else. The Kraken have five forwards on their current roster who are pending unrestricted free agents, so they need to consider next season, and Maccelli helps fill a void.

As far as potential trade targets from the Kraken, Mason Marchment would be priority for the Maple Leafs. They were interested before the Kraken pulled the deal off with the Dallas Stars last summer, and with him struggling in his new home with just 13 points in 27 games, this could be an interesting swap for both teams.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are desperate for some more offense and have been active on the trade market trying to move Phillip Danault. The defensive-minded centre isn’t a great fit for Toronto, so if Maccelli was to be moved to the Kings, I wouldn’t expect to see Danault involved, unless he’s headed to a third team included in the trade.

Maccelli is a familiar foe to the Kings, who saw him while he dressed in 224 games for the Arizona Coyotes franchise. They’ve seen the buttery passes, the tremendous vision and hockey IQ, and you can bet your bottom dollar that’s the selling point for Treliving right now. Maccelli scored 49 points as a 22 year old, 57 points as a 23 year old, he has the game in there somewhere, he just hasn’t been able to find his groove with the Leafs, and enough is enough.

The Kings have plenty of cap space, they’re in playoff position, and GM Ken Holland is working the phones trying to re-tool his forward group on the fly. The Leafs sent a conditional third-round pick to Utah last summer, and the Kings have two third-rounders this year, so perhaps Treliving settles for just recouping a pick. As long as the Leafs don’t receive Trevor Moore back in the swap, along with his $4.2 million cap hit for the next two seasons, then everyone can win here.

Vancouver Canucks

Quinn Hughes is gone, but that doesn’t mean the Canucks are finished making moves. Jim Rutherford sent out a memo around the league a couple of weeks ago to inform teams they were open for business and following through with a rebuild. The Canucks are a prime destination for Maccelli, as he could play a bigger role on a bottom-feeder team, and a team ranked among the worst in the league scoring goals.

The Canucks have six forwards who will be unrestricted free agents next year, which means most of them could be traded before the deadline as rentals, so there going to need to add a forward or two with term left on their contract. Maccelli’s team control next season could really come into play to benefit the Maple Leafs in talks.

The Canucks don’t have much for cap space, so there would need to be at least one player coming back the other way. Imagine it’s Evander Kane? The veteran polarizing winger is a pending free agent, is signed for this season at $5.1 million AAV, and he owns a 16-team approved trade list. Kane’s been extremely inconsistent for the Canucks, but with the losses piling up, perhaps his motivation has taken a big hit, which is part of the risk of having Kane on your team.

24 goals last season though, and a proven track record, the Maple Leafs could add themselves quite the wrinkle to their group if Maccelli is packaged in a deal to bring Kane to Toronto.

Boston Bruins

Before the Maple Leafs landed Maccelli from Utah, the Boston Bruins had interest in acquiring his talents. Yes, it’s not often a division rival acquires a struggling forward from another rival in-season, but if the Bruins had heavy interest, Treliving needs to circle back to see how that currently stands.

With the Brandon Carlo/Fraser Minten deal recently completed it’s obvious the two teams can work together on the trade market, but remind yourselves, that was when the Bruins knew they were throwing in the towel on last season. This season they’ve bounced back and are sitting third in the Atlantic.

If the Bruins still have interest, right-handed defenseman Andrew Peeke should be the Maple Leafs target. Send Maccelli and Simon Benoit to Boston and land the 27-year-old blueliner, who is a free agent at season’s end. Peeke is hardnosed, in your face, plays over 20 minutes per game, kills penalties, and leads the Bruins in blocked shots. Maybe Maccelli and Benoit isn’t enough here?

Boston doesn’t have a ton of trade candidates that jump off the page, so if this deal goes down, there might be a third team involved to help facilitate the trade. The Bruins loved Maccelli last summer, so Treliving should be on the phone giving his best selling pitch trying to convince them Boston is the perfect home for the struggling winger to find his game.

At the end of the day, it sounds like Maccelli’s days are numbered as a Maple Leaf. Lots of excitement heading into this season, unfortunately for everyone involved, it just hasn’t worked out one bit.