TORONTO — Matthias Maccelli sat in Toronto Maple Leafs In the locker room the morning of opening night, his name was scrawled on a board to the right of captain Auston Matthews and power forward Matthew Nice.
The 1RW seat that was previously occupied by you-know-who.
What would the wily playmaker have thought if someone had told Maccelli that he would start the 2025-26 season as a top Leaf player the day he was traded from Utah?
“Sounds pretty good to me, doesn't it?” Maccelli responded that bright October morning, flashing a smile as wide as a criss-crossed ribbon. “Obviously it’s a great opportunity for me to play with both of these guys.
“I feel like there's always pressure. It doesn't matter where you are. But, I mean, obviously here, when you're playing next to Auston and Nice, you're going to get a little more attention. So, you've got to try to block that out and go out there and play your game.”
The magical, tragic Blue Jays have done a fine job of drawing early-season attention away from their hockey-playing neighbors a few blocks to the east.
But Maccelli's case – one of GM Brad Treliving's many coups this offseason and one guilty of too much hope – is as good a place as any to test how the new Leafs are losing through 13 games.
Before the puck dropped, the low-risk player who had fallen out of favor with the staff in Salt Lake City admitted to being nervous but said he was determined to win his battles, check hard and help create scoring chances.
Before Leafs Nation could blink, Maccelli had slipped from the top spot. In less than four weeks he was back where it all ended with his former club: he was banished to the press box.
Treliving was never naive enough to believe he could replace Mitch Marner in all situations. The bet was that Toronto could limit turnovers by committee, with existing players taking on larger roles and three fresh faces up front – Maccelli, at center. Nicolas Roy and power wing Dakota Joshua – Participate in scoring support, changing special teams and playing smart defense.
In 38 games, the three new Maple Leafs have a combined 13 points and a minus-7. (Marner has 14 points and a plus-8 with Vegas in 11 games, but we'll admit Treliving didn't choose his own adventure here.)
Perhaps we should remind ourselves that all three of Treliving's former clubs are heading towards contention and were willing to let those players go to do so.
Maccelli averages his lowest time on ice (13:40) as a pro, Roy (13:51) averages his lowest in five seasons and Joshua (12:07) averages his lowest in three seasons.
They all contributed at least $3 million to the spreadsheet. None of them played cruelly. But also: none of them overachieved or required the significant increase in merit-based usage that Treliving was counting on here.
“Zone D is probably the biggest part. But I think we have made a lot of improvement,” said Roy, known for his responsibility and consistency in the middle.
“I try to help the team as much as I can in different situations: faceoffs (53.2%), playing on the PK or trying to counter the opponent on the forecheck and without the puck. I think my game is at a pretty good level. Obviously, this could be a better start to the season. So I'll just try to continue to improve.”
Roy, like others, provided an adjustment period for coach Craig Berube's plan.
“It always takes a little time to know exactly where to go. Don't get too hung up on it,” Roy said. “Because you want to act quickly and you don’t want to think about the system and everything else.”
Honestly, change is hard.
Acclimatization and chemistry take time, and this traumatized city can be impatient.
“You know, I think it's different for everyone. Obviously, it's not easy, right?” defends Max Domi, who has changed NHL jerseys six times.
“You come in, new coach, new system, new teammates, new linemates, new city. So, there's a lot that goes into that. But that's also part of being a pro in the NHL, right? So, I think those transitions are made easier by those guys that have already been here and then the locker room that you have. And I think we have a great group of guys that have been here for a while that make it easy for those guys. So we've just got to keep going. We'll be fine.”
But “good” shouldn't be the standard for a team that has made nine straight playoff appearances and won the division crown in the regular season.
Judging by the influx of players on Tuesday, Macchelli will be back in the Toronto lineup for a rematch against the team that suspended him. Accordingly, he will stand next to Roy and Joshua.
Call it “Line of Evidence.”
Gradually recovering, Joshua will I'll tell you quickly that he, like the rest of the Maple Leafs, had to reach another level.
He'll also point to the sluggish Octobers the Edmonton Oilers endured in 2023 and 2024 before eventually topping the table and representing their conference in the Stanley Cup Final. And Berube's 2018-19 St. Louis Blues team, which was in last place back in January and turned into a hard-working championship team in June where the sum is greater than the parts.
So when is the right time to start judging whether the new Leafs have fit in well enough?
“Perhaps around the American Thanksgiving, I don't want to say it's a time of panic. But it's actually a bigger picture to start doing something,” Joshua said. “And I know everyone is still trying to find their feet early on, and I just think that's the way the league is going. It's intense every night.”
However, until we see more activity and energy from the Leafs' role players, things will be a little more tense in Toronto.
As Maccelli said at the beginning, they will attract a little more attention.
