Here is why André Tourigny's decision to put Matias Maccelli on the Coyotes first wave of the power play elevates the team's offensive potential.
Coach André Tourigny decided to make a change Thursday night for the Arizona Coyotes power play, putting Matias Maccelli on the first wave while dropping Logan Cooley to the second wave.
The Coyotes power was incredible to start the year but has since slowed down as Tourigny has taken notice.
He told Coyotes team reporter Patrick Brown that “We're trying something different to create a spark” when talking about the move to place Maccelli on the team’s first power play unit.
Now Matias Maccelli is playing with Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Sean Duzi and Alexander Kerfoot on the power play which is really scary for opposing teams.
Maccelli was the lead quarterback and puck handler on the second unit for a reason. His vision is just unreal as he is able to find open teammates with ease and is also a fantastic skater.
The 23-year-old forward is just made for the power play. The Coyotes have Maccelli on one side and Keller on the other. They are two players that use their skating and puck handling skills to create for themselves and their teammates.
Maccelli’s presence allows Arizona to essentially have two elite facilitators on the top power play unit. He also takes a lot of pressure off of Keller who was shouldering a lot of the offensive load and puck handling duties.
This also may be a great thing for Cooley since he was struggling to get consistent touches alongside Keller but now has the opportunity to be one of the main anchors on the second unit and truly show what he is capable of.
Last night, the Coyotes first unit scored one goal and Maccelli seemed to fit in well with the team’s top offensive weapons.
If Maccelli and Keller can really learn to co-exist together on the man advantage, due to their raw talents alone the sky's the limit for what they can accomplish together.