As expected, Macklin Celebrini is a San Jose Shark. He’s the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, heading to San Jose to begin his major league career, likely next season.
Celebrini is coming off a freshman season at Boston University that will be regarded as one of the most impressive in NCAA history. The Vancouver native entered tonight as the consensus No. 1 pick after collecting 15 collegiate honors all before his 18th birthday.
He was one of the very best two-way threats in the nationwide circuit this season, finishing third in NCAA scoring with 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists) in 38 games. His 1.68 points per game were second only to Boston College’s Will Smith, who he’ll likely team up with on the Sharks next year after the latter signed his entry-level contract last month.
In their 2024 NHL Draft Guide, Elite Prospects called Celebrini “the best draft-year college prospect we’ve ever scouted” with “franchise center potential.” He’s not viewed as quite as dynamic an offensive talent as last year’s franchise-altering selection, Chicago’s Connor Bedard, but he’s a bonafide first-line center with an eye for the Selke Trophy in his future.
While the Sharks have done well to rebuild a previously empty prospect pool over the last couple of years under general manager Mike Grier, this will likely be viewed in retrospect as the cornerstone point of their rebuild. Much like the Blackhawks, he won’t change their fortunes immediately in his rookie season with a severely understaffed group of defensemen and many of his young teammates still in the development stage, but he should be viewed as one of the favorites for next year’s Calder Trophy and shouldn’t look out of place averaging north of 17-18 minutes per game next season.
That’s if the 6-foot, 196-pound center opts not to return to BU for his sophomore season, of course. However, the general consensus is that he’ll be signing his rookie deal this summer and suiting up for the Sharks come October.
