Why Celebrini As Alternate Captain? What Makes Teen So Special?

Macklin Celebrini was going to get a letter, it was just a matter of time.

The San Jose Sharks made Celebrini, 19, the youngest alternate captain in the NHL on Wednesday. He joins veterans Mario Ferraro, Tyler Toffoli, Barclay Goodrow, and Alex Wennberg as Sharks’ alternates.

There was no surprise in the locker room that Celebrini had been anointed, which speaks to how the teenager, just in his sophomore season, has impressed everybody around him since San Jose made him the first-overall pick of the 2024 Draft.

“He’s usually the last guy off the ice and the first guy on it,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He’s here late, working on his body. He takes care of himself. He cares. He’s competitive. That’s self-driven by himself.”

“He comes to the rink, he prepares well, he obviously performs on the ice,” Ferraro said, of the Sharks’ leading scorer last year.

“Mature well beyond his years,” two-time Stanley Cup winner Goodrow said. “[He’s very deserving] of wearing an A.”

The letter doesn’t change anything for Celebrini: The San Jose Sharks just want him to keep doing what’s made him the youngest alternate captain in franchise history.

Read the Full Story at NBC Sports Bay Area