As the NHL moves deeper into its 2025-26 regular season, there’s a youth movement at the top of the league’s scoring rankings. Chicago Blackhawks star Connor Bedard had a goal and four points in Friday’s win over the Calgary Flames to give the 20-year-old Bedard eight goals and 14 assists in 15 games and put him in second-place overall in the league with 22 points.
However, another dynamic young star had a terrific performance Friday night, and we are talking about San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, who had a goal and two points in a 2-1 Sharks win over the Winnipeg Jets to give him nine goals and 14 assists in 15 games. The 19-year-old Celebrini, who is in his sophomore NHL season, is looking like he’s going to demolish his 2024-25 individual numbers of 25 goals and 63 points in 70 games.
It’s no coincidence the Sharks have won five of their past seven games. Indeed, if you throw away their six-game losing streak to start the season, San Jose is 6-2-1 and now has a 6-6-3 record this year. They currently and surprisingly sit just two standings points out of a Stanley Cup playoff spot.
The Sharks haven’t been a playoff team since 2018-19, and in the six seasons that followed, San Jose hasn’t finished higher than sixth in their division, and they’ve finished seventh or eighth four times. So all this “being competitive” stuff has that new car smell to it.
But don’t take the Sharks’ recent strong stretch to mean Celebrini has done all the heavy lifting. Sophomore star winger Will Smith has also been on a point-producing tear, posting six goals and 14 points in 15 games. That’s a pace that would easily beat his rookie totals of 18 goals and 45 points in 74 games.
Somehow, with a patchwork defense corps and an offense that ranks 10th-overall in the league at 3.33 goals-for per game, the Sharks have been able to win despite having the NHL’s third-worst defense (averaging 3.60 goals-against per game) and inconsistent goaltending.
At its best, San Jose can overwhelm opposition defenders, and here’s the crazy part: Sharks GM Mike Grier has managed his draft and development teams so well, Celebrini and Smith are just two members, prominent as they are, of a Sharks future that includes top picks Michael Misa and Sam Dickinson.
In addition, the Sharks also have not one, but two first-round draft picks and a pair of second-round picks at the end of this year. There could be an opportunity for Grier to convert some of those picks and prospects into a needle-moving veteran in a trade, but even if that fails to materialize, San Jose is going to get more high-end young players in its system. That will mean improvement from the Sharks as a whole.
So while Celebrini and Smith are currently thriving, what’s truly great about the Sharks is that they’re going to be very deep and talented in terms of players other than Celebrini and Smith. They are the franchise pieces for this organization, but Grier has painstakingly worked to improve his team’s overall depth, and that’s why there’s soon going to be a day when San Jose is regularly dominating its opponents.
That day may not be this season. In fact, it probably won’t be this season. But how refreshing it must be to be a Sharks fan right now. They’ve suffered through many ugly seasons, but the franchise now has foundational high-end talent for it.
And soon enough, San Jose will be a preferred destination for the league’s free agents. It’s all starting to fall into place for the Sharks, and Celebrini and Smith are leading the way with the type of performances you hope for in your young core components. They’re worth the price of admission, and eventually, they’re going to be strong challengers to win the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
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