According to Elliotte Friedman, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mattias Maccelli is garnering some interest from their Atlantic Division rival, the Boston Bruins.
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Maccelli has quickly fallen out of favour with the coaching staff and has been a healthy scratch for the last eight games. Because of this, it seems the Maple Leafs are looking to move him to at least get something back, whether that is a player who can help the roster or a draft pick.
Bruins Interested in Maple Leafs’ Maccelli
On a recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Friedman talked about how the Bruins are looking to add a scoring winger to their lineup. One of the players they are looking at is Maccelli, who has proven he can score over the course of his career but would need an extended opportunity to show that. That is something the Maple Leafs do not have right now, especially because of how inconsistent they have been playing.
Here is what Friedman had to say:
“I know they’re (the Bruins) still looking for a scoring winger; I’m not sure if Mattias Maccelli’s going to be their guy still, or if they look for someone else.”
If the Bruins are looking to add a secondary scoring winger on a cheap deal, they should look no further than Maccelli. When the Maple Leafs acquired him from the Utah Mammoth, they sent a conditional third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. Based on that, if the Maple Leafs can recoup a similar pick from the Bruins, they could use it in a future trade to help improve their roster. If not, someone like Alex Steeves or Jeffrey Viel could be a reasonable depth pickup. If they could make it work, acquiring Michael Eyssimont would be an ideal swap for Maccelli.
Maccelli is an interesting name because if the Bruins were able to help him find his game, he could return to being a 40-plus point player, which would be a best-case scenario. There is also a chance he cannot find his game and Boston gives up an asset for essentially nothing, much like the Maple Leafs did. It will be interesting to see what happens and if anything gets done before the Dec. 20 roster freeze.
