Can Matias Maccelli be the Maple Leafs’ secret weapon?

Most Leafs fans noticed Maccelli’s playmaking chops during the preseason. He was easily Toronto’s best set-up guy on Wednesday, too, even though it didn’t result in anything. He’s no Marner, but he knows how to play with quality players from his time in Arizona/Utah (Clayton Keller) and will have plenty of opportunities to do that in Toronto.

Maccelli has always been on the smaller side, and his lack of physical play has left a bit to be desired when he doesn’t have the puck. He led all Coyotes players with 2.13 points-per-60 in 2023-24 while boasting an impressive 1.47 assists-per-60 at 5-on-5. His underlying numbers were seriously impressive.

Sure, his rate stats were down across the board in 2024-25, which ultimately led to Utah moving on. But there are plenty around the league who think Maccelli could find his form again in Toronto and become a fruitful producer again.

“He has the offensive tools and hockey sense to make quality plays,” one scout said on Wednesday night. “His consistency is an issue, but he’ll have a solid support system in Toronto’s top nine.”

Maccelli showed a bit of that skill on the play that helped set up the breakaway for the 3-2 game-winner in the third. He took advantage of a broken stick from Mike Matheson, but he still made a smart move, hesitating to get himself around the severed blade before setting up Morgan Rielly on the breakaway.

The past few weeks have been good for MM, even if it’s a small sample size (with some half-baked lineups during the preseason). And while he won’t get the same accolades Rielly will for his opening-night performance, Maccelli deserves credit for the number of smart, consistent plays.

Maccelli isn’t a play-driver, but he does a stout job of getting the puck where it needs to be consistently. His vision is excellent – he finds teammates as well as anyone in Toronto’s lineup. Throughout his glory days in Arizona, Maccelli was underrated as a playmaker, and the poor 2024-25 campaign didn’t help.

At his best, Maccelli isn’t a slouch as a shooter. He’s better as a passer, though, and when he fell to the third line in Utah last year, he simply didn’t have the dangerous shooters he needed to work with. If he’s not alongside Matthews, he’ll likely slot in alongside Max Domi – someone who knows how to get the puck where it needs to be himself. Maccelli plays better with a shooter down the middle, which is why pairing him with Matthews from the start always made the most sense.

But the RW1 spot is a coveted position. The 24-year-old forward isn’t guaranteed to last there by any means, especially if the Leafs like what they see from Easton Cowan or Nick Robertson. But the Leafs bet high on a player they only paid a conditional third-rounder for – by all accounts, it was an absolute steal of a trade.

Is Maccelli more like the 57-point guy we saw two seasons ago? Or are those days long gone? If you’re Toronto, you’re praying for the former.

Toronto won’t be able to directly replace Marner’s 102 points from last year. But they couldn’t – at least, not directly. There was always going to have to be some Moneyball from the NHL’s richest franchise to maximize value. If Maccelli can even hit 50 points, it’ll feel like a success. But there are many around the league who think he can do more – much, much more.

And this might be the best opportunity of his career to prove that.