Maple Leafs Have a Clear Candidate to Join Matthews and Nylander on PP1

There's a lot of talk about the Maple Leafs bringing in a top-six player, and while they have their fair share of options, they all come at varying costs so it depends on what Toronto wants to deal away.

However, there is also a question about whether or not the team is going to revert back to an old-school power play where instead of their typical five-forward formation, they decide to add a player like Morgan Rielly to their ranks.

But if they wanted to add that fifth forward and continue the offensive barrage with the man advantage, they should look to a new face for inspiration.

Brought in this season as a way to add some youth and additional playmaking to the team, Matias Maccelli is quickly being viewed as someone who without enough time and help from Craig Berube could turn into a deadly force on the ice.

He's already got great hands, a high passing IQ, insane creativity, and giving him four elite talents to dish off the puck to will help a lot.

Nylander - Matthews - Tavares

Knies - Maccelli

It's a lot to ask Tavares to play a defensive role on the power play so we try to avoid that but there's a lot of flexibility here, and if you humor me for a moment, it could work out.

Knies on the back end seems an odd choice however it's part of the plan.

Knies will make a player think twice about running into him on the point, but when he gets the puck, he can cycle to Nylander, and rush the net meanwhile Nylander can either a) find Maccelli to facilitate, b) wire an open shot with Knies crashing or c) cycle to Matthews and everyone weaves in and out, leaving defenses scrambling.

Maccelli is quick enough with his passes and is a very good stickhandler so possession isn't going to be a huge issues especially if he can find a man quick and get things going right away.

He does have 22 PP assists his previous two seasons, and while last year was a bit of a struggle for him offensively, he still chipped in where he could.

Trusting him with the stars is going to build his confidence and he has proven he can contribute on the man advantage.

The one focus of the power play this season has nothing to do with the roster makeup though, as the team seems allergic to shooting the puck and continue to try and find that perfect pass.

If the team as a whole can pepper goalies with shots (especially if Knies crashes the net) they have a great chance of scoring a lot more goals and could help offset some of the offense lost at 5 on 5 with Mitch Marner.

So give Maccelli a chance. It's not like Craig Berube is shy about changing things up if it doesn't work anyways.