Matias Maccelli said he believes he and the Arizona Coyotes will be much improved this season.
The 22-year-old forward is part of a young returning core for the Coyotes, who finished 13th in the Western Conference last season, 25 points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the West. Maccelli had a strong rookie season with 49 points (11 goals, 38 assists) in 64 games and signed a three-year contract with Arizona on Monday. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Obviously when you play with the same guys for a bunch of years, you learn how they play and how they do things," Maccelli said Thursday. "I think it's going to turn out better than if it was different guys every year. I believe when we have guys who stick around for a while, it's going to help us win, for sure."
Selected by Arizona in the fourth round (No. 98) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Maccelli was third in team scoring in his first full season with the Coyotes. The native of Turku, Finland, is part of a group of youthful Arizona forwards that includes Lawson Crouse, 26, Clayton Keller, 24, and Barrett Hayton, 23.
On July 1, the Coyotes also signed forwards Jason Zucker and Alexander Kerfoot and brought back Nick Bjugstad, who they had traded to the Edmonton Oilers on March 2. Defenseman Troy Stecher returned after being traded to the Calgary Flames on March 3, and on June 24, the Coyotes acquired defenseman Sean Durzi, 24, in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings.
"Seeing 'Bjugy' [Bjugstad] and all those other guys sign back, it just shows how much everybody likes being in Arizona," Maccelli said. "I think it's great they re-signed with the team and I'm super excited for things to get started. For me, it's fun going to the rink every day; it doesn't feel like work. For next year, I think we're going to be a lot better. We got a couple of big names coming in and I'm just super excited and pretty much ready to go."
Maccelli credits a strong summer of training in 2022 to his success last season. Prior to returning to North America to play with Tucson of the American Hockey League in 2021-22, he played two seasons with Ilves in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland, following two seasons with Dubuque of the United States Hockey League.
"It's a lot of hard work," he said. "It doesn't come easy and to be able to do it last year, it was just having a good summer and not rushing it too much and just believing in myself. Obviously, it turned out pretty well, so I'm pretty happy about that."
Going into this season, Maccelli (5-foot-11, 176 pounds) said he will focus on shooting more, and is working on getting stronger in order to win more puck battles. He has always been considered a playmaker but is also looking to be more of a scoring threat this season.
"It's always been part of my game to try and look for a pass and to see someone backdoor open and maybe not particularly look for the shot that much," he said. "In the National Hockey League, sometimes you just have to shoot because there isn't the perfect play every time, so I'm looking to improve on that next year. But if there is a play there, I'm going to make it."
Considering the success of his rookie season, Maccelli does not expect to fly under the radar this year. He knows opponents will be better prepared to face him.
"For sure, it's going to get harder for me from now on," he said. "Guys will play harder on me this year, and I just have to work a little extra harder and be better."
Having Bjugstad back should help Maccelli in that regard. The two were linemates before Bjugstad was traded to Edmonton for the stretch drive of the season and playoff run. The Oilers were eliminated in the Western Conference Second Round by the Vegas Golden Knights, who went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Prior to leaving for Edmonton, Bjugstad had 23 points (13 goals, 10 assists) in 59 games for Arizona.
"He's been playing for a long, long time and he knows how to play the right way," Maccelli said. "For me, having him on my line last year was huge, he helped me a lot on the ice and off the ice. All the new guys they're great players, they're going to help the team a lot. Getting guys like that, I'm super excited and I think they're going to make a big difference."
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