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After a full season of being relentlessly under the microscope, Connor Bedard is passing the torch to his good friend and fellow North Vancouver native Macklin Celebrini. The San Jose Sharks phenom will make his NHL debut on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2024 draft.
“You want to help grow the sport in this area and bring back some of the attention the Sharks have gotten, but honestly, I’m just looking forward to tomorrow and playing the first game,” the 18-year-old said ahead of his first regular season contest, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers.
The star center is projected to be thrown right into the fire, playing on the top line alongside William Eklund and Tyler Toffoli, as well as the first powerplay unit.
Although the Sharks aren't expected to be very good this season, they should be much-improved from the 2023-24 iteration of the roster that won just 19 games and finished dead last in league standings.
San Jose hasn't qualified for the postseason in five years, which is not at all the norm after the franchise made 14 appearances in 15 campaigns between 2003-19, per Myers. That included the franchise's one and only trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, which ended in six games to Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The hope in California is that Celebrini, along with a few other exciting young players, can help get the squad back to the dance sooner rather than later.
“All summer, the whole long summer, training camp, it’s all led to this,” Celebrini said. “I’m excited to just play.”
Sharks' Macklin Celebrini is ready for the spotlight
As the spotlight turns to Celebrini and 2023 first-round pick Will Smith in their respective rookie seasons, new head coach Ryan Warsofsky is impressed with how the two youngsters are handling all of the attention.
“They’re trying to find their way as well with a new group, living in a new city and all the things that go with that,” the bench boss told Myers. “They’re both great kids, first and foremost — ultra-competitive, self-driven. I’m sure they’re excited like everyone else is. They don’t need to be someone they’re not. Will and ‘Mack’ are both different as human beings. They have to be themselves throughout the night and throughout the season.”
Both Celebrini and Smith ripped up the NCAA last season. The former amassed 32 goals and 64 points in just 38 games as a freshman at Boston University, while the latter set the Boston College freshman record for points after exploding for 71 in just 41 games of his own.
As probably the best two players in college hockey, it was Celebrini that ended up winning the Hobey Baker as the top men's player — the youngest player to ever win the award.
“I mean, there’s obviously pressure, but I think we also look at it as an opportunity,” Smith explained ahead of his debut. “Everyone talks about the Shark Tank and how unbelievable it was. That’s our goal, to get it back like that.”
That quest will begin for Celebrini, Smith and the 2024-25 Sharks when the Blues visit the SAP Center on Thursday night.
