Macklin Celebrini
Canadian ice hockey player (born 2006)
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Macklin Richard Celebrini (born June 13, 2006) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a centre and alternate captain for the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Selected first overall by the Sharks in the 2024 NHL entry draft, Celebrini made his NHL debut in the 2024–25 NHL season and was a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy.
| Macklin Celebrini | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Celebrini with the San Jose Sharks in April 2026 | |||
| Born |
June 13, 2006 North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb) | ||
| Position | Centre | ||
| Shoots | Left | ||
| NHL team | San Jose Sharks | ||
| National team |
 Canada | ||
| NHL draft |
1st overall, 2024 San Jose Sharks | ||
| Playing career | 2024–present | ||
Celebrini played college ice hockey for the Boston University Terriers. He won the Hobey Baker Award during his freshman season, becoming the youngest player to do so.
Internationally, Celebrini has represented Canada multiple times, including the 2024 World Junior Championships, the 2025 IIHF World Championships, the 2026 Winter Olympics, and the 2026 IIHF World Championships as Team Captain. In 2026, he became the youngest NHL player to play for Canada at the Olympics
Early life
Macklin Richard Celebrini was born on June 13, 2006, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Robyn and Rick Celebrini.[1] Both Robyn and Rick played soccer, Robyn playing collegiately, and Rick playing for the Canadian U-20 National Team and the Vancouver 86ers.[2] After an injury, Rick became a physiotherapist, eventually working for the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and currently working for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA) as their director of sports medicine and performance.[3] Celebrini grew up a fan of the Vancouver Canucks, his hometown team.[4]
Celebrini is the second of four children. His older brother, Aiden, was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round of the 2023 NHL entry draft. The two brothers played together for the 2023–24 college season at Boston University.[5][6] His two younger siblings also play sports; his sister, Charlie, plays tennis, and his brother, R.J., plays youth hockey.[7]
Playing career
Early years
Celebrini started skating at only three years old. He played minor hockey in Vancouver with the North Shore Winter Club before his family moved to the Bay Area when he was thirteen. He would spend the 2019–20 season with the San Jose Jr Sharks 14U AAA program, leading the team with 94 points in 54 games.[8][9][6] Celebrini then spent two seasons at Shattuck-Saint Mary's School, a boarding school in Minnesota, participating in USA Hockey tournaments. During the 2020-21 season he led the 14U team in assists and was second in points with 90 assists and 141 points in 50 games. The team went on to win the 2021 Youth Tier I 14U National Championship.[10] In the 2021-22 season, at just fifteen years old, he played with the 18U-Prep team where he led the team during the regular season in both points and assists with 117 points and 67 assists in 52 games. The team went on to win the 2022 Prep Hockey Conference Championship.[11][12]
For the 2022–23 season, at age sixteen, Celebrini signed with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL). He won the scoring title with 86 points (46G, 40A) in 50 games, leading all USHL players in both points and goals. Celebrini broke the record for most points ever by a U17 player in USHL history.[13][14] He also broke the Steel franchise record for most single-season power play goals with 21 and most goals in a game with 5. After helping the Steel reach the USHL's Eastern Conference Finals, Celebrini was named Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Forward of the Year, becoming the second USHL player to win all three awards and the first to do so in a single season.[14] Celebrini was also named to the All-USHL and All-Rookie first teams.[15][16]
College/NCAA
Celebrini committed to play for Boston University starting in the 2023–24 season at just seventeen, playing alongside his older brother, Aiden.[4][6] During his freshman year, he led the nation in points per game (1.69) and finished the season ranked second in the country in goals (32) and third in points (63) in just 38 games. He won Hockey East Player of the Year, Hockey East Rookie of the Year, Hockey East Scoring Champion, and the Hockey East Three-Stars Award, while also earning Hockey East First Team All-Star and All-Rookie Teams honors. He became just the fourth player in NCAA history to win Hockey East Player of the Year and Hockey East Rookie of the Year in the same season. Celebrini was further recognized nationally as a First Team All-American and the NCAA Rookie of the Year, and regionally as the New England Rookie of the Year and a New England Division I All-Star.[17] He was the fourth freshman since 2000 to record 30G, 30A in a single season. Celebrini capped off his season by winning the Hobey Baker Award, becoming the youngest player to win the award and the fourth freshman to do so, following Paul Kariya in 1993, Jack Eichel in 2015 and Adam Fantilli in 2023.[18][19]
Professional/NHL
Celebrini was drafted first overall in the 2024 NHL entry draft by the San Jose Sharks, signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Sharks on July 6.[20][21] He made his NHL debut on October 10, scoring his first goal and assist in a 5–4 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues.[22] Celebrini led all NHL forwards in puck battle wins per game in the first half of the 2024–25 season.[23]
On April 9, 2025, in a game against the Minnesota Wild, Celebrini scored his first NHL hat-trick, becoming the first rookie to do so in the 2024–25 season, and breaking the Sharks single-season rookie points record with 62.[24][25] Playing in 70 games, Celebrini finished the season with 25 goals, second most among rookies behind Matvei Michkov, and 63 points, tying for second place with Michkov, behind Lane Hutson. Celebrini was a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy, awarded to NHL's best rookie, and was named to the league's All-Rookie Team.[26][27] During the summer of 2025, Celebrini and fellow North Vancouver native, Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, trained together in their hometown, with Celebrini stating that both players learned from each other.[28] In July 2025, Celebrini, alongside teammate Will Smith, joined Canadian teammates Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon in Halifax for one week of training.[29]
During the start of the 2025–26 season, Celebrini temporarily became the NHL's leading scorer scoring 23 points in the first 15 games, the third player to reach this achievement after Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman.[30] Celebrini got a hat-trick and two assists in a five-point night against the New York Rangers in the first win of the season for the Sharks on October 23, and another hat-trick against the Utah Mammoth in a 3–2 win less than a month later.[31][32] Celebrini and Smith became the second-highest-scoring under-21 teammate duo in NHL history, factoring into 55 goals together before Smith turned 21 on March 17. They rank only behind Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who factored into 64 goals together.[33] He became the sixth teenager in NHL history, after Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux, Jimmy Carson, and Sidney Crosby, to record 100 points in a season after he scored a goal against the St. Louis Blues on March 30.[34][35] On April 16, Celebrini recorded a goal and two assists against the Winnipeg Jets to reach 115 points on the season, setting a new franchise record for most points by any Shark in a single season. The previous record was held by Joe Thornton, who had 114.[36] With the two assists, Celebrini became the only teenager besides Wayne Gretzky to score at least 40 goals and 70 assists in a single season.[37] Celebrini ended the season having factored into 46.2% of the Sharks overall goals, second in the NHL behind Art Ross Trophy Winner Connor McDavid, and surpassing Gretzky's teenage-season of 45.5%.[38][39] He finished the season fourth overall in league scoring and was named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given by the National Hockey League Players' Association to the "most outstanding" player in the NHL.[40]
On July 29, 2026, Celebrini signed a $94 million five-year contract extension with the Sharks worth $18.8 million AAV starting in the 2027–28 season.[41]
International play
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's ice hockey | ||
| Representing Canada | ||
| Winter Olympics | ||
 | 2026 Milano Cortina | |
| World U18 Championships | ||
 | 2023 Switzerland | |
Celebrini made his international debut for Canada with the under-17 team in the 2022 World U-17 Hockey Challenge.[42] The following year, he was named to the under-18 team for the 2023 World U18 Championships, where he scored the bronze medal-winning goal against Slovakia in overtime.[43][44][45] Celebrini later played with the junior team at the 2024 World Junior Championships, leading the team in scoring with four goals and four assists.[46]
Following the conclusion of his collegiate season, Celebrini accepted an invitation to make his senior team debut at the 2024 Men's World Championship, but was dropped from the roster following the addition of NHL players whose teams were eliminated in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.[47][48] He made his debut the following year at the 2025 World Championship, recording three goals and three assists for a total of six points in eight games for Canada.[49]
Celebrini was invited to Hockey Canada's 2025 National Teams Orientation Camp in anticipation of the 2026 Winter Olympics as the youngest player to be considered for the senior team at the time.[50] On December 31, 2025, Celebrini was named to Canada's roster for the Winter Olympics, making him the youngest-ever NHL player to be named to the Canadian men's Olympic team.[51][52] In Milan, Celebrini assumed a key role for Canada in the tournament, playing on the team's top line alongside Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. He opened the scoring for Canada in a 5–0 win over the Czech Republic, surpassing Jonathan Toews to become the youngest Canadian NHL player to score an Olympic goal.[53] He had the most ice-time of any Canadian player in their 3–2 comeback victory over Finland in the semifinal round.[54][55][56] Canada was ultimately defeated by the United States in the finals, receiving the silver medal.[57] Overall, Celebrini recorded five goals and five assists for 10 points in six games, finishing as the tournament's leading goal scorer and ranking second in points, and was named to the Olympic All-Star Team.[58][59]
Celebrini returned to Canada's roster for the 2026 World Championship as the team's captain, making him the second youngest player to ever captain Canada's senior team after Roy Heximer, who was named captain at 18 during the 1938 World Championship.[60][61][62] Celebrini was voted to remain captain after Sidney Crosby, the national team captain for several international competitions starting from the 2014 Winter Olympics, was added to the roster following the Pittsburgh Penguins' playoff elimination.[63] Canada ultimately reached the bronze medal game, losing in an upset to Norway. Celebrini led the team with 14 points in 10 games, and was named the Best Forward of the tournament, as well as to the All-Star Team.[64][65]
On July 9, 2026, Celebrini was named the IIHF Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season, receiving 40.8% of the vote.[66]
Personal life
Celebrini is of Croatian descent through his paternal grandfather, Anton Celebrini, who was born in Porat, a village on the island of Krk.[67]
Celebrini lived with former San Jose Sharks captain Joe Thornton for his first two seasons in the NHL.[68][7] He now lives with San Jose Sharks teammate and close friend Will Smith.[69]
Celebrini signed an official endorsement deal with CCM immediately following his draft in June 2024 and remains an exclusive brand ambassador and pro-roster athlete for CCM Hockey.[70] He also serves as a brand ambassador for Chipotle,[71] Sony Electronics,[72] and Airbnb.[73] Celebrini serves as the Pacific region ambassador for the Kruger Big Assist program, which supports minor hockey associations in Canada.[74] He is also a community ambassador with OpenRoad Foundation, supporting philanthropic initiatives acrosss British Columbia and Ontario.[75]
On June 14, 2026, Celebrini was announced as the cover athlete of NHL 27, becoming the youngest player to appear on the cover and the first Shark to do so since Owen Nolan in NHL 2001.[76]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2021–22 | Shattuck-Saint Mary's | Midget AAA | 52 | 50 | 67 | 117 | 44 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 12 | ||
| 2022–23 | Chicago Steel | USHL | 50 | 46 | 40 | 86 | 62 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Boston University | HE | 38 | 32 | 32 | 64 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2024–25 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 70 | 25 | 38 | 63 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2025–26 | San Jose Sharks | NHL | 82 | 45 | 70 | 115 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL Totals | 152 | 70 | 108 | 178 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
Awards and honours
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| USHL | ||
| USHL Player of the Year | 2023 | [14] |
| USHL Rookie of the Year | 2023 | [14] |
| USHL Forward of the Year | 2023 | [14] |
| All-USHL First Team | 2023 | [15] |
| USHL All-Rookie First Team | 2023 | [16] |
| College | ||
| All-Hockey East First Team | 2024 | [77] |
| Hockey East All-Rookie Team | 2024 | [78] |
| Hockey East Scoring Champion | 2024 | [18] |
| Hockey East Three-Stars Award | 2024 | [18] |
| Hockey East Rookie of the Year | 2024 | [18] |
| Hockey East Player of the Year | 2024 | [18] |
| Tim Taylor Award | 2024 | [79] |
| Hobey Baker Award | 2024 | [80] |
| AHCA East First Team All-American | 2024 | [81] |
| NHL | ||
| NHL All-Rookie Team | 2025 | [26] |
| EA Sports NHL cover athlete | 2027 | [76] |
| San Jose Sharks | ||
| Sharks Player of the Year | 2025, 2026 | [82][83] |
| Sharks Rookie of the Year | 2025 | [82] |
| International | ||
| Winter Olympics All-Star Team | 2026 | [59] |
| World Championship Best Forward | 2026 | [65] |
| World Championship All-Star Team | 2026 | [65] |
| IIHF Male Player of the Year | 2026 | [84] |