This weekend’s NHL Draft will send a host of new hockey prospects on a new journey for their careers, and most all of this class is waiting to hear where they’ll land.
The one outlier is former Boston University center Macklin Celebrini, who should be the first-overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft for the San Jose Sharks.
The left-handed offensive prospect might not come with the same ballyhoo as last year’s top pick, Connor Bedard, but Celebrini only played a year at Boston for a reason.
He’s a pro-ready scorer who brings tantalizing upside as a future star in the league. Let’s get to know Celebrini before he most likely joins the Sharks on Friday night in Las Vegas.
First, some quick facts about Macklin Celebrini
Date of birth: June 13, 2006
Place of birth: North Vancouver, Canada
Height and weight: 6-foot-0, 190 pounds
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
2023-24 team: Boston University (NCAA)
2023-24 stats: 32 goals and 64 points in 38 games
Celebrini hails from the same area as Bedard, and he’s just a bit bigger and taller than the Chicago Blackhawks star. He won the Hobey Baker and Tim Taylor awards in college and was named Hockey East’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Celebrini played for the USHL’s Chicago Steel in the 2022-23 season, scoring 46 goals and adding 40 assists in 50 games.
What is Macklin Celebrini’s playstyle like?
Celebrini scores a lot of goals. That’s not the only reason he will probably go first in this year’s draft, but it’s atop the list. San Jose desperately needs elite offensive players on its roster, and Celebrini would fill that gap for the Sharks.
However, his number of assists shows he’s just as good at creating scoring opportunities for his teammates. Bedard had similar success going into last year’s draft, which rounds out a prospect’s game outside of just finding the net. San Jose will get a player who has a knack for the puck in both notching goals and getting it to his fellow players.
That’s reason enough to draft someone like Celebrini, who should start as soon as he arrives.
