The San Jose Sharks are thrilled to have rookie center Macklin Celebrini in their organization. Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, made his highly-anticipated Sharks debut on Thursday. The rookie wasted no time in showing fans why he was the first player selected in the draft.
Macklin Celebrini only needed 7:01 to score the first goal of his NHL career. Celebrini put the Sharks up 1-0 on a wild play. The rookie attempted to send a crazy backhand pass to William Eklund. Instead, the puck deflected off the skate of Blues defenseman Matthew Kessel for the goal.
“Eklund [told me I scored]. I was like, ‘Nice goal,’ and he was just like, ‘I didn’t score either,'” Celebrini said. “I thought he was just super excited that he scored, but I guess he was happy for me.”
Celebrini was clearly having a blast in his first official NHL game.
“I think just the whole process going into it, all my teammates and going through it with ‘Smitty’ was really cool. Just all of those memories, those plays, first shift, all that. The warmup, rookie lap. I tried to soak up as much as I could.”
It wasn’t all excitement for the young rookie. Celebrini admitted that he feels the pressure to turn San Jose hockey into something special. But he won’t let that get in his head and impact his performance on the ice.
“I mean, there’s obviously pressure, but I think we also look at it as an opportunity,” Smith explained ahead of his debut, per NHL.com. “Everyone talks about the Shark Tank and how unbelievable it was. That’s our goal, to get it back like that.”
Macklin Celebrini, Sharks do not disappoint in first game of the season despite overtime loss
Celebrini could not contain his excitement about playing in his first NHL game.
“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,”
He had been waiting for this opportunity his entire life, but it has been so close he can taste it since the summer.
“All summer, the whole long summer, training camp, it’s all led to this,” Celebrini said. “I’m excited to just play.”
Unfortunately, Celebrini and the Sharks started the season with an overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues. San Jose did not have a perfect performance in their season opener, but they showed enough potential for fans to be optimistic about this season.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky is impressed by Celebrini and 2023 first-round pick Will Smith, two young players who are the future of the franchise. Warsofsky believes they have handled the attention better than most.
“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,” Warsofsky said. “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.”
Next up for San Jose is another home game against Anaheim on Saturday.