Prospect Info: 2019 #98 - Matias Maccelli - LW

_Del_

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Jul 4, 2003
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Still a little concerned that we seemingly target midgets with questionable defense as our ideal forwards, but this is a fine home run swing at this point in the draft. Plus he's Finnish.
 

Imaravencawcaw

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Jul 19, 2018
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Got a shout out in Pronman's latest article: Pronman's NHL prospect impressions: U20 4 Nations, Hlinka...

Matias Maccelli (LW, Arizona) was consistently impressive at the U20 4 Nations. He showed his high-end puck skills and vision, and made a lot of plays for Finland. He wasn’t invited to the World Junior summer tournament, but if he continues his strong play, he should be on the radar. He also had a four-goal game in Liiga preseason.
 

tucknroll

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Feb 13, 2015
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Lead the Liiga in pre-season scoring with 6 points in 3 games. 4 points came in the 1st game and it was only pre-season, but still positives.
Was a huge fan of this pick, i also had him in my draft that i did for the team. He was 22 points ahead of second place on Dubuque finishing 3rd in points overall in the league and also tied the record for most points by a Fin in the USHL (tied Haula). I agree with Pronman's assessment of skill and vision, he's good at finding openings. I also like how he's willing to be a bit selfish and shoot the puck. He does lack intensity though, can vanish in games and isn't the best battler. Hopefully that changes because he would be one of my picks to surprise people a few years from now.
 
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Name Nameless

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Apr 12, 2017
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Lead the Liiga in pre-season scoring with 6 points in 3 games. 4 points came in the 1st game and it was only pre-season, but still positives.
Was a huge fan of this pick, i also had him in my draft that i did for the team. He was 22 points ahead of second place on Dubuque finishing 3rd in points overall in the league and also tied the record for most points by a Fin in the USHL (tied Haula). I agree with Pronman's assessment of skill and vision, he's good at finding openings. I also like how he's willing to be a bit selfish and shoot the puck. He does lack intensity though, can vanish in games and isn't the best battler. Hopefully that changes because he would be one of my picks to surprise people a few years from now.

Yeah, he is 18...

Imagine if the team have found a real goal-scorer in the fourth round. That would be something! :wave:
 

Dr VinnyBoombatz

formerly ctwin22
Mar 21, 2008
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You're not wrong. In the past, guys past the 1st round didn't translate stats wise, nor project to be anything of value. Garland was a value pick, but for every Garland pick in the past, we picked 8 guys who were "never" going to make it... ala Westlund, Fiegl, Laplante, Soleway, etc...

Now at least we're pick value guys who could turn into something: Steenbergen, Jenik, Entwistle (not ours anymore, but still good pick), Busby, Kirk, Farinacci, Maccelli, and almost everyone from the 2019 draft. The drafting has certainly gotten better, but there was nowhere to go but up. Maloney buried this franchise with his drafting acumen.
 

BlazingBlueAnt

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Jul 12, 2014
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He outscored Kakko in 16/17 on the TPS U18 squad. He had 46pts in 32 games and Kakko has 41pts in 35 games.

In the USHL last season he had a better scoring pace than Afanasyev (2nd rounder) Mastrosimone (2nd rounder) Pinto (2nd rounder), and Firstov (2nd rounder).
USHL is a low scoring league, being over a ppg is super impressive. He was over 1.15ppg, next highest on his team was at .82ppg
 

BlazingBlueAnt

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Jul 12, 2014
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You're not wrong. In the past, guys past the 1st round didn't translate stats wise, nor project to be anything of value. Garland was a value pick, but for every Garland pick in the past, we picked 8 guys who were "never" going to make it... ala Westlund, Fiegl, Laplante, Soleway, etc...

Now at least we're pick value guys who could turn into something: Steenbergen, Jenik, Entwistle (not ours anymore, but still good pick), Busby, Kirk, Farinacci, Maccelli, and almost everyone from the 2019 draft. The drafting has certainly gotten better, but there was nowhere to go but up. Maloney buried this franchise with his drafting acumen.
I remember when we drafted Fiegl, at the time Maloney said we HOPED he would turn into a Joran Nolan type player -_-
 
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tucknroll

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Feb 13, 2015
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Any speculation as to why he dropped?
Not a very hard worker at times, not a great defensive player, shy's away from battles and can be worked over by bigger players that lead to turnovers. Great skill, vision and solid shot, so hopefully he's able to round out his game playing with pros in the liiga.
 

JasonDemersWasOkay

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Nov 14, 2018
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It was always so depressing watching other teams' low picks turn into legit NHL'ers while we struggled to even get our first rounders to work (Samuelsson, Gormley, visentin)

The only low pick I ever had hope for in the Maloney era was Edgars Kulda based on his memorial cup run. Then he fell off just like the rest. Its refreshing these days that we can look at the stats of guys like Maccelli, Kirk, and nussbaumer and actually speculate about their potential to be decent players in the future rather than hoping for their ceiling as a 4th line callup.
 

Gwyddbwyll

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Dec 24, 2002
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Notched an assist in the most recent game, appeared to be slotted on the 2nd line.
 

ookhaab

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Jun 8, 2016
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He is now PPG in Liiga after 13 games, only two U20 players have had PPG in Liiga this century (Granlund and Aho).

He is starting to look like a serious steal in the 4th round, especially if he can keep up this pace.
 

Grimes

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I'm starting to drink Chyaka's and our scouting teams Koolaid. Between him, Bahl and Jenik we are starting to see some really nice prospects past the 1st round.

Hayton over Zadina is looking better (still wished we grabbed Hughes) and Soderstrom is looking like a solid pick up as well (Caulfield looks to be the player to compare this pick against).
 

XX

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I'm starting to drink Chyaka's and our scouting teams Koolaid. Between him, Bahl and Jenik we are starting to see some really nice prospects past the 1st round.

Hayton over Zadina is looking better (still wished we grabbed Hughes) and Soderstrom is looking like a solid pick up as well (Caulfield looks to be the player to compare this pick against).

Elite Prospects - USHL Stats 2018-2019

Check out the U19 USHL season his draft year. I don't think it's rocket science or some type of magic, really. It seems like they have a weighted list of production across all leagues (these spreadsheets exist) and simply noticed Maccelli was good value. It helps to know the player and have eyeballs on him, but 4th round onward you are taking swings at guys like Garland and Maccelli just based off of numbers. The old "do I care how he gets on base?" conversation from Moneyball. I know they knew Garland personally but his production was the proof they needed to draft him.

Every U19 player ahead of Maccelli in PPG got drafted in the top 35 picks, but he was the 'best' U19 player in the entire league that played a full year outside the NTDP. Mastrosimone and Afanasyev were picked before him, but those look to be good choices. PPG in Liiga against men is more impressive but he has to do it for the entire year for it to matter.
 

RABBIT

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Oct 21, 2008
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“Ted’s dead baby. TEDs Dead”
Corey Pronman calls Maccelli one of the biggest risers since the draft
Matias Maccelli, LW, Arizona
No. 98 overall
Maccelli has turned heads since starting his season overseas where he’s been an important player for his pro team Ilves in Liiga. His ability to produce versus men at a significant level this quickly has been very impressive. He’s small and not the most dynamic skater, but he’s shown his great hands and vision could translate to a higher level. After not being invited to Finland’s U20 team at the World Junior Summer Showcase, he’s now on track to be leaned on as one of its top forwards at the world juniors.

Also mentions Danil Savunov. 2 of the 13 players he sees as risers are Coyotes. Nice to see.
Danil Savunov, LW, Arizona
No. 174 overall
When I watched Savunov last season, I saw an undersized forward with good feet and some skill who competed well without much of a wow factor. He’s been productive versus men this season in Russia’s second division for SKA and shown more skill than I thought he had. I don’t think he has elite skill by any means, but it’s good; and he has very good offensive instincts. He’s a player I didn’t value much, but there is more intrigue around him right now.
Paywall Article:
Pronman: Biggest risers from the 2019 NHL Draft
 

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