Matias Maccelli to return to Utah’s lineup after missing 13 games as healthy scratch

Utah Hockey Club left winger Matias Maccelli will make his long-awaited return to the lineup Thursday versus the Buffalo Sabres after being scratched for the past 13 games, Utah head coach Andre Tourigny confirmed per Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Asked what he’d like to see from Maccelli against the Sabres, Tourigny told Fraser, “I want energy. I want him to get in the inside. Be good on both sides of the puck … There’s two ways you can look at it – you can feel sorry for yourself or you can jump in this game and prove what you can do. We want the latter.”

Tourigny added that Maccelli will enter the lineup in place of veteran forward Nick Bjugstad. In all, Maccelli has made only four appearances since late January, a stretch that has seen him held out of the lineup for 15 of 19 games. Maccelli’s last showing came February 8 against the Carolina Hurricanes that saw him finish with one assist and one shot through 15:13 of ice time.

On the season, Maccelli has made 52 appearances with Utah in which he has scored eight goals and added 10 assists for 18 points coupled with eight penalty minutes and a minus-13 rating. Prior to the team’s shift to Salt Lake City, Maccelli spent part of three seasons with the former Arizona Coyotes highlighted by the 2023-24 campaign that saw him finish with a career-high 57 points counting 17 goals and 40 assists coming in 82 games.

Per PuckPedia, the 24-year-old Finnish-born forward is in the second year of a three-year pact that carries a $3.425-million annual average value. Maccelli was originally chosen by the Coyotes in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft.

Entering Thursday action, Utah trails Vancouver by four points for the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference.