Fair or Foul? Exciting new Toronto Maple Leafs forward loses his spot in the lineup

Matias Maccelli is someone who Toronto Maple Leafs fans were very excited about when he was acquired from the Utah Mammoth in a fairly reasonable trade.

The Leafs only had to give up a mid-round draft pick to get him, and he came with a lot of promise. A few seasons ago, he had over 50 points. However, with the Mammoth, he struggled and only had 18 points last season.

Going into this season, there was this hope that Maccelli would be able to rise to the occasion and have the best season of his career while playing with the Leafs' top six.

Despite those opportunities on the first and second line, Maccelli has struggled. He has just nine points in 22 games and has had a hard time meshing with his teammates.

Last week, Maccelli was a healthy scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Subsequently, he was scratched against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Florida Panthers.

The Leafs won all three of the games in which he was a scratch. Leafs head coach Craig Berube likes to keep his lineups the same after wins, which is exactly what we saw at practice on Wednesday.

Below, you can see that Maccelli and Calle Jarnkrok are on track to be scratched, all over again. The Leafs are playing the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, and they need their best lineup available.

If the Leafs aren't going to play Maccelli, then they might be forced to do something with him in the form of a trade. After all, he's not the kind of player who will accept being scratched for three games in a row.

It is a sad fall from grace for Maccelli, although this doesn't have to be the end of the road. Just one good game could potentially turn his season around.