When, Why Did Canada Pick Celebrini for Olympics?

Macklin Celebrini has officially made Team Canada’s roster for the 2026 Olympics.

The San Jose Sharks superstar center was announced as part of the roster by Canada GM Doug Armstrong on Wednesday morning. The 19-year-old is the first NHL teenager to be selected by Canada for the Olympics, since NHL’ers started going to the Olympics in 1998.

Here are the 2⃣5⃣ players who will wear the 🍁 at #MilanoCortina2026! 🇨🇦

Voici les 2⃣5⃣ joueurs qui porteront la 🍁 à Milan-Cortina! 🇨🇦

ROSTER: https://t.co/5I8Uz2Psfa
FORMATION : https://t.co/zbOWuEgdPQ@TeamCanada | @Equipe_Canada pic.twitter.com/dTc1YKengx

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) December 31, 2025

Armstrong says that the Canadian braintrust decided on Celebrini by early December.

An unusual number of GMs in Dallas for Sharks-Stars, 4 of them, Nill, Dubas & Brisebois (all Team Canada and Pens playing here Sunday) and Grier

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 6, 2025

The St. Louis GM shared a hilarious anecdote, about telling Celebrini that he was on the Olympic radar last season in St. Louis. The-then rookie proceeded to score two goals and an assist to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-3 victory over the Blues on Dec. 21.

When did Mack make the team? ⬇️

Canada's GM Doug Armstrong discusses Macklin Celebrini making the roster for the Winter Olympics. pic.twitter.com/nTAQ1h7zjG

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) December 31, 2025

“I’ll always have those conversations after the game, moving forward,” Armstrong quipped.

So when did San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky know that the super sophomore had taken a leap as a player?

Celebrini had a strong rookie campaign, finishing third in the Calder Trophy voting, but he was probably on the outside looking in for Team Canada at the beginning of training camp.

“I think it started probably over the summer. He had a really good summer of training,” Warsofsky said. “He was in even better shape than he was last year, which is to say a lot. Looked like he got stronger. Looked like he was on a mission.”

Celebrini’s 60 points is third in the NHL behind Olympic teammates Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. Celebrini’s 21 goals and 39 assists means that he’s been directly involved in 50.4 percent of his team’s total offense.

But of course, it’s not just the offense that has got the teen onto the deepest national hockey roster in the world. Canada’s got plenty of offense, young and old.

“The way he plays a 200-foot game, the way he defends, the way he competes for pucks, how physical he is, I think that’s what probably set him apart,” Warsofsky said.

So will Warsofsky, who led USA to a 2025 World Championship gold medal, now help the Americans with a plan to stop Celebrini?

“No, I’ll be sitting there on my couch watching it,” Warsofsky laughed. “Though that’d be the one time I root against Mack.”