San Jose Sharks
Celebrini Sets Sharks’ Record & Scores 1st-Ever Hat Trick, All in Front of Luke Schumann
Macklin Celebrini had himself a night, scoring a hat trick and setting a San Jose Sharks’ rookie record.
And he did it all in front of Make-A-Wish cancer survivor Luke Schumann, whose wish to meet Celebrini was granted last weekend in San Jose, before the Sharks’ 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 9, 2025
Tonight, Celebrini notched three goals and added two assists in an 8-7 OT loss at the Minnesota Wild.
These five points gave the rookie 62 for the season, blowing by Pat Falloon’s 59, which had been the franchise record for a rookie, set in the San Jose Sharks’ expansion campaign in 1991-92.
Celebrini’s hat trick was also the first by a No. 1 pick in his rookie season since Auston Matthews in 2016.
Macklin Celebrini is making his mark on the NHL ✨ pic.twitter.com/HnGNw05usz
— ESPN (@espn) April 10, 2025
It all started with Celebrini holding off star defenseman Brock Faber in front of the net, to Schumann’s delight:
And Luke was LOVING it. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/p7TN7mU0zG
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 10, 2025
Celebrini gave the San Jose Sharks a brief 4-3 lead, when he and Smith executed a perfect give-and-go. Smith had eyes in the back of his head, and Celebrini beat Frederick Gaudreau to the front.
After Macklin Celebrini scored, Make-A-Wish kid Luke Schumann who was hosted by the Sharks was yelling “that’s my friend” 🥹
Last week, the Sharks granted Schumann’s wish to meet Celebrini 🫶 pic.twitter.com/jOU8fDYWV8
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 10, 2025
“He had a great trip out and we had a lot of fun together on the ice and getting to know him and his family was a great experience, something I’ll remember for a very long time,” Celebrini said after the game, about Schumann. “For him to be here tonight, and kind of experience that game, I think it was a little bit better than the Seattle game.”
Along the way, Celebrini made a sweet pass to Nikolai Kovalenko, to start the comeback from down 7-4.
Kovalenko gets one back! pic.twitter.com/CHd0q3Wbcq
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 10, 2025
And then, Smith found Celebrini again. Smith was first on the puck on the forecheck, held off Zach Bogosian, and made something out of nothing.
HIS FIRST NHL HATTY! 🔥#Calderbrini pic.twitter.com/7cwXvsJJ0V
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) April 10, 2025
“He’s obviously talking to me when we’re out there, and I think that’s a huge part of it,” Smith said about seeming to know where Celebrini is on the ice at all times.
Smith struggled to start the season, and in mid-January, was sitting at just six goals and 15 points in 40 games. But since Jan. 20, he’s got 29 points in 30 appearances, second only to Celebrini among all rookies.
“You see the player he is, and he always was, obviously went through a little bit of a slow start,” Celebrini said of his best friend. “You can see what happens when it gets going and when he has confidence and he’s just playing out there and having fun.”
Smith made as much as a statement tonight as Celebrini did, scoring the biggest goal of the night.
WILL SMITH AND WE’RE TIED! 🚨
What a goal call by @Sharkvoice! 🤩#SJSharks #TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/DrWIaDUr7O— SnipeCity420 (@SnipeCity420) April 10, 2025
“We just got a good look at our future there,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.
Incredible
All the hoopla surrounding Celly, I think people forget just how big game clutch Smith was in college. Kid has ice in his veins. When his body catches up to his mind I’m not sure people are going to be bitchin about Michkov anymore. That was a performance reminiscent of Kucherov.
Smith is better than Michkov right freaking now. 29 points in 30 games for Will now, that’s just how things are, it’s not a sample size anomaly anymore. Michkov has been putting up points lately, but he’s playing the wild West style cherry picking nightly. Will has been doing work on the boards and the next time Michkov makes a pass like anything Will Smith was throwing out there will be the first. A big offseason for Smith might mean he’s putting up Marner numbers as soon as next season. The kids are so lethal together that it’s gonna be… Read more »
I’m excited too but let’s come back to reality. Marner, despite his rep in TO, is about as elite as it gets. It’ll be a miracle if Smith is anywhere near him next season. 🙂 if smith does make a jump and the Sharks don’t add another top 6 center they’ll have to separate them. As soon as Wennberg is back to playing 3c, the sharks will start having mismatches almost every shift. Need some more scorers in the top 6. Need some size.
I think all those issues are going to iron themselves out over the next year plus. The next wave is knocking on the doorstep. Chernyshov, Musty, Haltunnen, Bystedt and Lund are all bigger. And while we’re at it, let’s go get Marner. I honestly believe it’s possible. The guy wants money. The Sharks have money. And he definitely has seen the kids play and they’ve even gotten to hang out in the beautiful California weather. Next year, I’m hoping the blue line is Ferraro, Muk, Dickinson and Cagnoni on the left side and 2 big RHD acquisitions, Liljegren, Thompson and… Read more »
and thank you for not trying to say the team would have been better off with Michkov
He’s not getting much love, but Jack Thompson is playing sneaky decent hockey. Some good, but not a lot of bad. Might seem faint praise, but he just turned 23 and he’s looking like a guy who’ll have an NHL career. At this point, I think he’s the best RHD on the team. Which is definitely faint praise.
Still, when he’s one the ice, a don’t get the Dorothy Parker “what fresh hell is this” reaction that I get with the rest of the RHD.
I like JTs game. Has some swagger too. I think he’s getting better and his shot is nice. Just needs to get a little nastier defensively.
Yeah I think I’ve seen about all of Liljegren I can take.
He needs to play Toronto every night. Great pass to Smith on the tying goal though
Him & Carlsson played half-way decently as a pair but him & Mario are a disaster together. Plus he is playing way above his station, playing tough 1st pair minutes that he is not equipped to handle. Slide him down the lineup & he isn’t terrible.
Yeah I feel like with Thompson you can see flashes of him being a legit NHL defenseman. I think he needs to really get in the gym this offseason and work on his body. He still gets physically overmatched quite a bit. I think he’s passed Thrun on the depth chart.
How can the future be bright for this team if they keep running Georgiev out there,? I have said all along this guy is a bum goalie..Now Celebrini and Smith are only 2 players worth watching..
Eklund
Maybe you didn’t get the memo. Georgiev is here to ensure a bottom 2 finish. GMMG knew that keeping Blackwood would get the Sharks out of the bottom 5 as Blacky is a decent G, so a trade ensued.
Georgiev is doing EXACTLY what is expected of him, being good enough to lose close games and ensuring a bottom 2 finish. He likely will not be back & ShutOut Asky is on the way next year.
Be patient and enjoy the ride.
As Sharkvoice says ” Funnest last place team you’ll ever see.”
Bottom 5,Bottom 2, who cares?. This team could have 12-15 more wins with Blackwood in the nets. 20 wins for a professional hockey team is a joke..They start tinkering late in year with questionable trades. Very impatient with Grier
You don’t really seem to have much grasp of what’s going on with the team. Its priorities and objectives.
This season was never about “this season”. It was about development and growth. This season’s team is far better than last, even after the trades. Sure they would have won 5 or 6 more games with Blackwood, but where would that get them? They would have been maybe a 8 or 9 pick now they whould get 1-3. Let’s see how this off season goes, Grier has lots of money to spend and get a guy like Marner and other studs, maybe Ekblad. I would also like Nelson as a good vet. Next year they should also have Askarov in… Read more »
It’s called a rebuild. Just tune out for another year if you can’t handle the lows.
Yeah, if you can’t have fun when your 18 year old has a 5 point game in the NHL to cap one of the best rookie seasons in the last decade and your other guy who was a teenager most of the year just put up another 4 and has been a point a game for the last 30, then maybe you should start watching again in 2 years. This isn’t for you. Having said all that, they need massive improvements on the blue line or Askarov is gonna get PTSD. We should put up a statue for Georgiev having… Read more »
Genuine question: Are you aware of how the NHL Draft order is determined?