Now is the time to keep Utah Mammoth moving forward from Matias Maccelli. The 2019 fourth-round draft pick exploded with 49 points in 2022-23, his first full season in the Arizona Coyotes’ NHL. He has been a staple in the franchise since then. He continues to develop the next season by scoring 57 points in his final season with the Coyotes in the Desert. This gave Utah Hockey Club high hopes for its first season in Salt Lake City.
However, Maccelli struggled to stand out in the rotation of head coach Andre Tourigny in early February, leading in just six of the last 31 games at Utah, less than half of his average performance for the little werewolf in the previous two seasons.
With Maccelli repeatedly crawling the NHL’s March 7, 2025 trading deadline, Utah is seeking to reach a deal that includes Maccelli. In the end, nothing was achieved, McKelly stayed in line with the team and signed for another season.
The 2025 NHL enters draft close to free agents and less than a month. Let’s discuss why despite another season of contracting each other, it’s the best option for Maccelli and Mammoth.
Maccelli’s career high basic figures, but low career production
Maccelli has some excellent basic metrics, contributing 1.78 assists per 60 minutes exceeds the league average, total shots total contribution above the league average, and ranks among league leaders in Rush offense every 60 minutes (player card, all three zones, all three zones, June 5, 2025).
Despite Maccelli’s lack of production this season, many of these advanced metrics have seen significant improvements compared to their career-high season in 2023-24. McKelly averaged 0.74 assists per 60 minutes, while the average contribution of the shots with the Coyotes was 0.37 higher.
With his base numbers greatly improved, but his production has dropped dramatically from last season to this season, indicating how relied on Maccelli’s dependencies are on his production side. McKelly’s figures are mainly due to his two main teammates, Lawson Crouse and Nick Bjugstad, who scored 45 points together. This translates into Maccelli’s massive assists. McKelly played most frequently with Crouse and Bjugstad during his inaugural season in Utah. Still, the two have only 20 goals in total during the season, including the matches that Maccelli watched from the news box.
Maccelli has 71% of his career as assists, and it’s no surprise that his two most common team scoring numbers have also dropped by more than half since the 2023-24 season.
Maccelli is no longer suitable for mammoth
Asked what teams need this offseason, Tulini said, “A few years ago we needed players anyway” and then continued, “Now, we are looking for specific areas of the game to make it better”.
Related: Utah Mammoth’s 2025-26 lineup projection 1.0: Prospect development creates tough decisions
At present, the most obvious weakness of the Mammoth is its lack of depth in scoring. The Mammoth has no one at the bottom of the six, they are a good enough finisher to help elevate and showcase the organizer Maccelli’s outstanding performance. Maccelli, on the other hand, probably won’t shoot at the top six Mammoth’s best offensive weapon, as they already have a handful of great players in Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz’s Clayton Keller.
Maccelli is undersized between 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 165 pounds, and he can’t create scoring opportunities for himself or her high-bending opportunities aren’t suitable for the bottom six of the Mammoth’s top six.
Other NHL teams should still be interested in Maccelli
Just because Maccelli is not suitable for Mammoth, it does not mean that it is not suitable for him elsewhere. Maccelli may not be suitable for the bottom six characters. But McKelly could shine if he had a chance to be in the top six with his real goalkeeper.
We can see an example by looking at the behemoth duo Schmaltz and Keller who played together for 1,000 minutes this season. When Utah put Keller and Schmaltz on the ice, they beat their opponents 42-31 (57.53%) with five-on-five points. By contrast, when they were split, only Schmaltz was on the ice, Utah was eliminated with a score of 7-16 (30.43%) (via Natural Stat Trick).
Schmaltz and Maccelli are similar players, as they both are very good at handling hockey and building teams. The difference between the two is the quality of captivity they are able to play with. Although MacCelli is a player with limitations and limited goals scores, his skills can improve the game of outstanding goal scorers.
Even if Maccelli is not needed in Salt Lake City, several teams around the NHL can benefit from their top six. For Maccelli’s career and the potential rewards for the mammoth, this summer is time to move on.
get 25% off on purchase Using code on NHLShop.com nhldeal. Quotes only have the benefits of today and tomorrow, so don’t miss it!
Source link
