© Kathryn Howell/New York Islanders

After graduating from junior in 2023, Matt Maggio got his next hockey lesson last year in his first pro season.

Maggio made the jump to the American Hockey League and recorded 27 points (16G, 11A) in 61 games with the Bridgeport Islanders. It was a learning experience both on and off the ice, but it primed the 21-year-old winger for his second season in the pros.

“You know what to expect and you kind of know what you need to work on,” Maggio said. “I need to get stronger in the corners. I needed to be more consistent on a night-to-night basis… I’m just honing in every practice in the summer, making sure that I’m giving it my 100% not really taking a practice off, not taking a workout off.”

Maggio has taken the message to heart and has been soaking up the first three days of Islanders Rookie Camp. After a summer of working out with trainers, camp is a chance to ask Bridgeport Head Coach Rick Kolawsky and former Islanders like Johnny Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg for pointers.

“I’m asking Boychuk for tips on how to get under sticks and how to cause turnovers,” Maggio said. “I’m a guy that likes to play with the puck and if I can cause two or three more turnovers a game, that’s just more time on offense.”

No one was expecting Maggio to replicate his final junior season, where he scored 54 goals, notched 111 points and took home the OHL scoring title and MVP, in the AHL, but the Bridgeport coaching staff wants to see him simplify and round out his game. That messaged appeared to take hold in the second half of last season, as he recorded 19 points in the final 31 games for Bridgeport.

“They were just always on me about playing simple,” Maggio said. “I’m playing against older guys, the stuff that maybe worked in juniors won’t work here, but still having that creativity, just simplifying my game and for checking hard, I’m a guy that likes to play with a lot of speed. I like to think that I have a good motor on me, and using that motor to kind of get in on offense and create turnovers, create offense for myself.”

Maggio feels he’s more prepared for the grind of the AHL schedule as well, including the three-in-threes, where teams play three games in three days (and sometimes condenses to two-and-a-half days if Sunday is a matinee). Kowalsky recalled a conversation with Maggio from his rookie year about how much of a grind the jump to pro was, but remarked about how his mentally has continued to mature.

“It’s a man’s league,” Kowalsky said of the AHL. “A lot of these guys haven’t faced that adversity, the grind of it, and that’s what the American League’s for… I think he’s learned, obviously by bringing that [adversity] up a lot and prepared over the summer. He can take what he learned, and you look for him each year to take another step.”

We present to you: Matthew Maggio. #SupremePort | #Isles pic.twitter.com/qwTnivh4Ix

— Bridgeport Islanders (@AHLIslanders) October 22, 2023

In addition to the on-ice growth, the 2022 fifth-round pick (142^nd overall) gained valuable life experience away from the rink. Aside from a brief stint in Sweden in 2021, last season was effectively his first living without a family, billet or nuclear, rooming with 2022 sixth-rounder Daylan Kuefler. That meant learning to cook, trading in frozen pizzas for healthy dinners, and generally just adjusting into early adulthood.

While last season may have included a learning curve, Maggio is feeling comfortable and driven heading into his second pro season.

“He’s still young,” Kowalksy said. “He’s a very likable kid in the room. I know the veteran guys felt like he fit in… You want these guys, you want their personalities to grow, and again, just year after year, they should feel more comfortable.”