Macklin Celebrini

Lore & Background

Celebrini played minor hockey in Vancouver with the North Shore Winter Club before his family moved to San Jose, where he spent the 2019–20 season with the San Jose Jr Sharks. He later attended Shattuck-Saint Mary's School, scoring 50 goals and 67 assists in 52 games, then signed with the Chicago Steel of the USHL for the 2022–23 season. There he recorded 86 points, leading the league and breaking the record for most points by an under-17 player in USHL history. He 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.

Celebrini committed to Boston University for the 2023–24 season, playing alongside his older brother Aiden. In 38 games he recorded 32 goals and 64 points, winning Hockey East Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Scoring Champion, and the Three-Stars Award, as well as the Hobey Baker Award.

Professional

He was drafted first overall by the Sharks in 2024 and signed a three-year entry-level contract on July 6. 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. In the 2024–25 season he finished with 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games, was a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist, and was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team.

In the 2025–26 season, Celebrini temporarily became the NHL's leading scorer with 23 points in the first 15 games, the third player to achieve this after Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman. He recorded a hat-trick and two assists against the New York Rangers and another hat-trick against the Utah Mammoth. He became the sixth teenager in NHL history to record 100 points in a season, and on April 16 he recorded a goal and two assists against the Winnipeg Jets to reach 115 points, setting a new franchise record.

He was named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award. On July 14, 2026, he was announced as the cover athlete of NHL 27, the youngest player to appear on the cover and the first Shark since Owen Nolan in NHL 2001. He signed a five-year contract extension worth $18.8 million per year on July 29.

Roots in North Vancouver and a Family Built Around Sport

Macklin Richard Celebrini entered the world on June 13, 2006, in North Vancouver, British Columbia, into a household where athletic competition was practically a second language. His mother, Robyn, played collegiate soccer, while his father, Rick, suited up for Canada's under-20 national side and the Vancouver 86ers before a career-altering injury redirected him toward physiotherapy. Rick eventually served as the director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors, a role he assumed in 2018.

Growing up in the shadow of the Vancouver Canucks, young Macklin absorbed the culture of professional hockey long before he ever laced his own skates. He is the second of four siblings, and sport runs through the entire family: his older brother Aiden was selected by the Canucks in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, his sister Charlie competes in tennis, and his younger brother R.J. plays youth ice hockey. The family's relocation to the Bay Area when Macklin was thirteen set the stage for the next chapter of his development.

A Record-Breaking Path Through Junior and Prep Hockey

From the moment he first hit the ice at three years old, Celebrini's trajectory was marked by a relentless accumulation of records. After playing with the North Shore Winter Club in Vancouver, the family's move to the Bay Area placed him in USA Hockey Youth Tier I leagues, where he led the San Jose Jr. Sharks 14U AAA squad with 94 points in 54 games. Two seasons at Shattuck-Saint Mary's School in Minnesota, operating under the Hockey Center of Excellence banner, saw him post 90 assists and 141 points as a 14U player before jumping up to the 18U-Prep team at fifteen, where he led that group in both scoring and playmaking. The 2022-23 season in the USHL with the Chicago Steel proved a watershed: at sixteen, he claimed the league scoring title with 86 points, shattered the all-time under-17 points record, and collected Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Forward of the Year in the same campaign, a first in USHL history.

A Historic Freshman Campaign at Boston University

In the 2023-24 season, Celebrini committed to Boston University at just seventeen, joining the Terriers alongside his older brother Aiden. What followed was one of the most dominant freshman performances in NCAA history. He paced the entire nation in points per game at 1.69, finished second nationally in goals with 32 and third in total points with 63 across 38 games, and became only the fourth freshman since 2000 to reach the 30-goal, 30-assist threshold in a single season. Conference honors piled up: Hockey East Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Scoring Champion, and the Three-Stars Award, plus First Team All-Star and All-Rookie selections.

He was just the fourth player ever to sweep both the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year titles in Hockey East in one year. On the national stage, he earned First Team All-American and the Tim Taylor National Rookie of the Year. The season's crowning achievement came with the Hobey Baker Award, making him the youngest recipient in the award's history and only the fourth freshman to claim it, joining the company of Paul Kariya, Jack Eichel, and Adam Fantilli.

First Overall to San Jose and a Record-Shattering Rookie Year

Selected with the top pick in the 2024 NHL entry draft, Celebrini signed a three-year entry-level deal with the San Jose Sharks on July 6, 2024. His debut on October 10 carried immediate promise: he recorded both his first goal and first assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis. Through the first half of the 2024-25 campaign, he led all NHL forwards in puck battle wins per game, establishing himself as a two-way presence. The defining night arrived on April 9, 2025, against Minnesota, when he scored his first NHL hat-trick, became the season's first rookie to do so, and broke the Sharks' single-season rookie points record in the same game.

Over 70 games he tallied 25 goals and 63 points, setting franchise marks for most rookie points, most rookie assists, and most goals by an 18-year-old, while also becoming the fastest rookie in Sharks history to reach 40 points, needing just 45 games. He finished as a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist and earned All-Rookie Team honors. That summer, he and fellow North Vancouver native Connor Bedard trained together back home, each acknowledging what they learned from the other.

Reader's Guide

Macklin Celebrini's significance lies in his rapid ascent from college hockey to becoming a franchise cornerstone for the San Jose Sharks. As the first overall pick in the 2024 draft, he immediately made an impact by finishing as a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist in his rookie season. His sophomore season elevated him to elite status: he became the sixth teenager in NHL history to reach 100 points and broke Joe Thornton's single-season franchise record with 115 points. His selection as the cover athlete for NHL 27 and his five-year, $18.8 million-per-year contract extension underscore his value to the Sharks organization.

Internationally, Celebrini represented Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where he became the youngest NHL player to play for Canada at the Olympics and the youngest Canadian NHL player to score an Olympic goal. He led the tournament in goals and was named to the Olympic All-Star Team, earning a silver medal. He later captained Canada at the 2026 World Championship, becoming the second-youngest player to captain Canada's senior team, and was named Best Forward of the tournament. His legacy is still being written, but his early achievements—including the Hobey Baker Award as a freshman, multiple franchise records, and international honors—position him as a central figure in the Sharks' present and future.