NY Islanders may have found free agency's most overlooked fit this summer

Free agency isn't always about landing the biggest superstar. Sometimes it's about timing. Sometimes it's about opportunity. And sometimes, a player and a team simply need each other.

That may be exactly what's happening with Matias Maccelli and the New York Islanders.

After an uneven season with Toronto that saw his role fluctuate, Maccelli entered free agency looking for one thing above everything else, that being the right fit. The Islanders, meanwhile, entered the summer looking to add offensive creativity without committing long term. It didn't take long for those two paths to intersect. "I've only heard good things about the area, the fans and the organization," Maccelli told NewYorkIslanders.com after signing his one-year contract. "We had a good conversation and I felt like it will be a good fit for me."

That conversation with general manager Mathieu Darche and head coach Pete DeBoer was all Maccelli needed to hear. The Islanders were selling opportunity and the winger was listening.

For a player whose game revolves around creating offense, that matters. Maccelli isn't a volume shooter. He's a playmaker first, something the Islanders have lacked outside of Mathew Barzal. Since entering the NHL, his 118 assists rank among the best from the 2019 draft class, including consecutive 38 and 40-assist seasons during his best years in Arizona.

Now imagine that vision paired with centers like Bo Horvat, Barzal, Brayden Schenn or even rising prospect Cal Ritchie. There's hope that he can recapture that early success. "There are obviously a lot of good players on the team," Maccelli said. "I think I can add more on the offensive side."

It's also a massive prove-it season for the 24-year-old.

After producing 106 points over a two-year stretch in Arizona, Maccelli knows he has more to give than he showed last season. Darche clearly believes it too, calling him a player who can help both the Islanders' top six and their power play.

Sometimes the biggest offseason additions aren't the splashiest names. Sometimes they're the players who simply land in the right place at exactly the right time.

For both Matias Maccelli and the New York Islanders, this feels like one of those moments.

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