Maccelli has been a healthy scratch in eight of Toronto's 30 games this season.
Could Matias Maccelli eventually be on the move from the Toronto Maple Leafs?
On Thursday night, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman wrote in his 32 Thoughts story that a name to watch is Maccelli, who's fighting for ice time with the Maple Leafs.
"Maccelli, unfortunately, hasn’t been a fit for the Maple Leafs," Friedman wrote. "I don’t believe they were the only team who looked at him in the summer, so some of those clubs may circle back."
After being acquired by the Utah Mammoth in the summer for a conditional 2027 third-round pick, the forward has appeared in 22 of Toronto's 30 games this season. While in the lineup, Maccelli has scored four goals and nine points.
One of the reasons Toronto traded for him was because they hoped Maccelli could return to the form of the 2023-24 season, where he scored 57 points (17 goals, 40 assists) in 82 games. As Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, the Boston Bruins had the same idea, and also poked around on Maccelli in the summer.
'It Felt Even Better Against My Old Team': Matias Maccelli Responds To Benching With Big Game Against Former Utah Club
Maccelli had two points against his former team, one being the game-winner in a 5-3 win.
Eventually, he went to the Maple Leafs and has since been a healthy scratch in eight games this season.
"I think he obviously wants to play. We all know that and every player wants to play, but he's handled (the scratches) positively," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said on Dec. 3. "I mean, he knows that he's got to be better, and I put him in the Washington game. There wasn't a lot there. I thought he struggled in that game."
The game against the Washington Capitals, a 4-2 loss, was the last time Maccelli appeared in the Maple Leafs' lineup. He's been a healthy scratch for the previous six games.
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The 25-year-old fourth-round pick in 2019 is in the final season of a three-year, $10.28 million contract he signed with the Arizona Coyotes (now Mammoth) in July 2023, after a season in which he scored 11 goals and 49 points in 64 games.
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