Maple Leafs failed Matias Maccelli before another team gave him another opportunity

Toronto gave up on Matias Maccelli despite paying a third-round pick for him, and now that he's in Long Island he's poised to be a focal point of their top-six.

Last summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights and tried several different avenues to replace him. One way they tried to add some playmaking to the lineup was by acquiring Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth for a third-round pick.

Coming into Toronto with a lot of expectations given that he had Shane Doan vouching for him and with Maccelli's comments prior to the season it showed a motivated player who was ready to step into the spotlight.

Toronto gave Matias Maccelli a premium role without properly stabilizing things first

However it never turned out that way, as Maccelli was quickly relegated to a bottom-six role, didn't really look comfortable, then was not offered a qualifying offer thus making him a free agent. He signed with the New York Islanders and is poised to be part of their offence as the Islanders themselves go through big changes this summer.

Seen as the winger that Auston Matthews needed, Maccelli and Matthews barely got any time together before Craig Berube pulled the plug.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the two spent a total of 49 games on the same line for a grand total of 92:34, which if you're breaking down through those 49 games is a total of 1:53 TOI per game.

For perspective, Max Domi and Matthews played 58 games together for a staggering 446:10 TOI - which equates to 7:41 per game together. That's over 4.5x the time together in only nine more games, and it shows the team barely gave it a go.

Bouncing around the lineup all season, he really only picked things up when the year was all but over where he had 7 goals and 14 points after the Olympic break. It's hard to get any chemistry when you have new line-mates each game, and he made do with what he was given all things considered.

Craig Berube hadn't focused so much on trying to build a defensive powerhouse in Toronto, Maccelli would have gotten more time up front, but since the team wanted to sacrifice a bit of creativity for something designed to be more stable - Maccelli suffered.

Maccelli's next opportunity could show Toronto the exact player they were hoping for

Now with a new lease on his career in New York, he's going to get much more playing time and won't be pushed down the lineup by a litany of star forwards. With the Islanders looking to help develop Calum Ritchie, using Maccelli in place of him so as to not rush him into things is a good idea.

Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal will help carry the bulk of the offence along with Matthew Schaefer but the rest of the team doesn't have a boatload of offensive weapons. Maccelli's 39 points last year would have ranked sixth on the team last year and his 14 goals would have put him eighth ahead of Ritchie.

He's really going to be looked at as someone who can help drive the creativity and playmaking in the top-six, and will factor in on the powerplay for sure. He isn't going to immediately jump into a prominent role and the focal point, but as a complement to their other stars he's going to help.

If he can gather chemistry quick and start to show everyone that his 106 points from 2022-24 wasn't just a fluke then Toronto has proof that they need to potentially re-think things if a proposed new line combination or player doesn't immediately have an impact.

Much like most things in hockey, it takes time to develop a relationship and a bond with your teammates. One that happens best when you're playing together all the time - a lesson Toronto will hopefully avoid learning the hard way.

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