Several Leafs players showing one of their pre-deadline adds a lot of love during their media availabilities
Since being acquired along with Ryan O'Reilly from the St. Louis Blues a few weeks ago, Noel Acciari has been an amazing under-the-radar addition for the Leafs. In a lot of ways, his acquisition was then buried in the shadows of the Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn additions and the Rasmus Sandin trade as well. However, make no mistake about it, Acciari was a key add for this team and has made his presence felt in a number of ways.
Acciari was given the Leafs' championship belt for the 2nd time on Saturday, following a 2-goal performance, which helped to avenge a March 1st loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Acciari opened the scoring for the Leafs and put the game away with an empty net goal in the late stages of the 3rd period to put the game out of reach. He was also credited with 7 shots on goal and 5 hits, which is all the more impressive when you consider the fact that he played just over 13 minutes of ice time in the game.
His impacts are not lost on his new teammates, including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Michael Bunting and Matt Murray - all of whom commented on his play with the Leafs since coming in following Saturday's win.
"He's great," Matthews said with a smirk and a subdued laugh when asked about Acciari. "All of us really love Cookie. Ever since he's gotten here, I think he's blended in with the team nicely, and a guy that just plays so hard every night... I think he's changed games and changed momentum just with laying the body, throwing a couple big hits and kind of getting us to wake up a bit."
"[Acciari brings] a lot of intangible stuff. He seems to be always in the right position, he defends hard, he hits, he's tough, he's been scoring and he's just a hard worker. He's got leadership qualities... I've said it right since he got here. I think he's fit in great, right from the get-go and you can't say enough about him. It's great to see him being successful," said Murray on Acciari.
"He's just a beast," Marner said of Cookie after his 2-goal outing on Saturday. "I knew it playing against him for awhile and he's a hard guy to play against. He's not afraid to finish any check, he's hungry on pucks, but really just what he's been doing on the forecheck, getting pucks back and then just planting himself in front of that net and it's been great seeing him getting results for it."
"He was a beast last night and he's a beast every night since he's been here," said Michael Bunting on Acciari. "He's a great guy off the ice. He's strong, he's physical and he has that scoring touch and he showed it [Saturday] night. He's a great addition and we're all really happy to have him."
After being celebrated by all of his teammates on Saturday, Acciari also got some fantastic news over the weekend. His wife and kids are finally travelling to Toronto today. He has not seen them since being acquired by the Leafs a few weeks back, so Acciari calls this an exciting day for him, personally.
We're glad to hear that his family is on the way and thrilled to know that the team chemistry is great and felt throughout the roster since Acciari's arrival. He's been a big part of what's made the new-look bottom six so effective, so it's just nice to see that he's being appreciated and acknowledged for the work he does.
