Those assists, along with his points-per-game mark of .77, led all NHL rookies in the regular season, and his 49 total points finished just eight points behind Seattle's Matty Beniers, who played in 16 more games.
His season vaulted him to the top of the Calder Trophy discussion.
Tweet from @AZCoyotesPR: Coyotes rookie
"Coming off 20 games last season, and playing the way I played, I probably surprised a lot of people," Maccelli said. "I just came into camp wanting to make the team with no expectation -- that was the only goal. I made the team and slowly started to gain more confidence with the things I did on the ice, and I ended up with a really good season."
The Turku, Finland native may have surprised a number of pundits this season, but a peek at his credentials leading up to the breakout campaign show that his stat line didn't just come out of nowhere.
He recorded 15 goals and 24 assists in 51 games in 2020-21 with Ilves in the Finnish Elite League, Liiga, and followed that up with 14 goals and 43 assists in 47 games with the Tucson Roadrunners in 2021-22.
It took just two games for Maccelli to record his first assist this past season, and he continued to improve as the year wore on. Eight of his 11 goals came in his final 25 games of the season.
"It was a good season for me individually," Maccelli said. "Made the team off the start, and I would say now I'm an NHL player. It definitely feels good, and I think we took big strides as a team, so I'm really excited for the future."
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong was impressed with the forward's improvement from the 23 games he played in 2021-22 compared to this past year season.
"He really took a step," Armstrong said. "He showed flashes last year, and now he's a more consistent player.
"There were small surprises like that that really added to putting a smile on my face at the end of the year."
Maccelli, though, was quick to deflect the credit.
"It just shows what kind of players I played with that helped make that happen," he said. "I couldn't have done that without my great linemates and teammates."
Maccelli said he wants to add some size during this offseason, aiming to come back to training camp stronger and tougher to play against. That presence will only add to the young core of emerging stars on the Coyotes, which includes Maccelli, Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, Barrett Hayton, J.J. Moser, Juuso Valimaki, and Karel Vejmelka.
Add in young talent waiting in the wings, such as Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, Conor Geekie, and Maveric Lamoureux, and Arizona's up-and-coming roster is full of promise.
"In our group I think Bill did a really good job to get guys like Maccelli, Valimaki, and plenty of others who brought talent to our lineup," head coach André Tourigny said. "We have other guys, we have young guys looking to crack the lineup, so there's talent coming in."
