Coyotes left winger Matias Maccelli out long term with a lower-body injury

Arizona Coyotes rookie phenom Matias Maccelli of Turku, Finland is out six weeks with a lower-body injury according to Craig Morgan of gophnx.com. The first-year left winger, who was the Coyotes’s fourth round pick, 98th overall, in the 2019 National Hockey League Entry Draft, got the injury in the Coyotes’s 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the Mullett Arena in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday night. That was the last night of NHL action before the Christmas break.

2022-23 NHL statistics

In 30 games this season, Maccelli had three goals and 19 assists for 22 points. He is a -2 with 14 penalty minutes, eight power-play points, 23 shots on goal, seven blocked shots, 10 hits, 134 takeaways, and 21 giveaways. Maccelli’s game-winning goal came on November 8 in a 4-1 Coyotes win over the Buffalo Sabres. He scored from fellow Finnish player Juuso Valimaki of Tampere, Finland and Barrett Hayton of Peterborough, Ontario. Interestingly, this was also Maccelli’s only power-play goal of the season, as his other seven power-play points have been power-play assists.

It was also Maccelli’s second ever NHL goal, as his first goal came last season. Maccelli scored from Phil Kessel of Madison, Wisconsin and Shayne Gostisbehere of Pembroke Pines, Florida in an 8-5 Coyotes win over the Ottawa Senators on March 5, 2022.

Second in Rookie Scoring

Maccelli is second in National Hockey League rookie scoring in 2022-23. The leader is Matthew Beniers of Hingham, Massachusetts, who has 25 points (11 goals and 14 assists) with the surprising Seattle Kraken in 2022-23.

Co-Leader in Assists on Coyotes

Maccelli is the co-leader in assists on the Coyotes with 19. The other Coyotes player with 19 assists is Clayton Keller of Chesterfield, Missouri.

Playing in the Mullett Arena

Maccelli is playing his home games at the Mullett Arena this season, an arena that has a capacity of only 5,000. What could be disconcerting for the NHL is that the Coyotes could not even sell out their game against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, as they had a reported crowd of 4600.

Second last in the Central

The Coyotes only have 27 points this season. In the Central Division, only the Chicago Blackhawks with 20 points, have less.