Utah Mammoth Need to Trade Matias Maccelli

With his underlying numbers significantly improving, but his production dropping drastically from last season to this season, it shows how reliant Maccelli is on his linemates for production, given his pass-first nature. Maccelli’s numbers were inflated mainly due to his two main linemates, Lawson Crouse and Nick Bjugstad, combining to score 45 goals. This translated into plenty of assists for Maccelli. In Utah’s inaugural season, Maccelli most commonly played with Crouse and Bjugstad again. Still, in this season, the two combined for only 20 goals, including games Maccelli watched from the press box.

With 71% of Maccelli’s career points being assists, it should come as no surprise that his production was cut in half this season when both of his most common linemates’ goal-scoring numbers also dropped by more than half from the 2023-24 season.

Maccelli No Longer Fits With the Mammoth

When asked about what the team needs this offseason, Tourigny said “a couple years ago, we needed players no matter what”, and then continued to say, “Now, we’re looking for specific areas of our game to be better”.

Currently, the Mammoth’s most apparent weakness is its lack of depth in goal scoring. The Mammoth do not have anybody on their bottom six who is a good enough finisher to help elevate and showcase just how good a playmaker Maccelli can be. On the other side of that, Maccelli likely won’t get a shot with the Mammoth’s best offensive weapons on the top six, as they already have a handful of excellent playmakers there in Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz.

The combination of Maccelli being undersized at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds and his inability to create scoring chances or high-danger chances for himself does not fit the mould of a bottom-six forward the Mammoth are looking for.

Other NHL Teams Should Still be Interested in Maccelli

Just because Maccelli does not fit in with the Mammoth does not mean there is not a good fit for him somewhere else. Maccelli may not be best suited for a bottom-six role. However, if given an opportunity in a top-six role with a bona fide goal scorer alongside him, Maccelli could shine.

We can see an example of this by looking at the Mammoth’s duo of Schmaltz and Keller, who played more than 1000 minutes together this season. When Utah had Keller and Schmaltz on the ice, they outscored opponents 42-31 (57.53%) at five-on-five. In contrast, when they were split up and only had Schmaltz on the ice, Utah was outscored 7-16 (30.43%) (via Natural Stat Trick).

Schmaltz and Maccelli are similar players in that they both are incredibly skilled at handling the puck and setting up teams. The difference between the two is the quality of linemates they have been able to play with. While Maccelli is a player with limitations and limited goal-scoring upside, he has the skill set that can elevate the games of great goal scorers.

Even though Maccelli is not needed in Salt Lake City, several teams around the NHL could benefit from having another playmaker on their top six. For the good of Maccelli’s career and the potential return for the Mammoth, this summer is the time to move on.

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