TORONTO — Macklin Celebrini is having a stellar start to this NHL regular season that has led the San Jose Sharks to becoming a surprising early contender.
And that could lead the teenage phenom all the way to another coveted roster spot — as part of Team Canada at the upcoming Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina. It’s certainly on his radar.
“That’s a goal,” Celebrini said following the Sharks’ practice Wednesday. “It’s a dream of every kid who grows up in Canada. Right when the season started that wasn’t really my focus; it’s still not my focus [because I] can’t really control what they decide or what they do, but being on that team would be a huge honor.”
Celebrini, 19, has been a dominant threat in his second NHL season. He has 15 goals and 43 points in 31 games, putting him third behind only Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid in scoring, and he is tied with McDavid for the second-most assists (28). That production is a major reason the Sharks are a .500 team in the mix for a Western Conference wild-card spot.
Seeing San Jose succeed was, and is, Celebrini’s primary concern, but he can’t deny that the lure of donning red and white in February was motivating throughout his offseason training alongside Sidney Crosby — already named to Canada’s roster — in the latter’s native Nova Scotia.
“Over the summer and kind of leading up to [this season], I think for sure [it was motivating],” Celebrini said. “It’s been something that I’ve been working towards, and it’s been a goal of mine. That thought obviously lingers around you, but there’s so much we need to focus on, so much going on, that if you just keep thinking that it’s going to be a little bit overwhelming.”
To that end, Celebrini has been staying off social media to keep the noise swelling around him at bay. He does keep up with another Team Canada hopeful — Chicago’s Connor Bedard — who is also pushing his way into the Olympic conversation in the midst of a sensational third NHL season (40 points in 29 games).
Canada’s coach, Jon Cooper, said this week that “those kids” — meaning Celebrini and the 20-year-old Bedard — are going to make for some “excruciatingly tough” decisions for him and the country’s management team before it submits a final roster by Dec. 31.
Celebrini said he hasn’t had any discussions with Cooper or Canada’s GM Doug Armstrong. If they were to chat with him though, Sharks’ coach Ryan Warsofsky expects they’d find a player mature beyond his years who has grown into being “a true 200-foot center.”
“He’s extremely impressive,” Warsofsky said. “You kick yourself because he’s 19 years old and you can’t believe it. [The pressure] doesn’t bother him whatsoever. And he goes about his business. The way he prepares, it’s like he’s been in the league for 12 years. … He’s as humble as they come, he’s extremely self-driven. He’s not looking to go get his two points; he’d rather us win a hockey game.
“When you have someone like that, that’s when we know we’re moving in the right direction.”
