How Are Sharks Watching Celebrini’s Minutes? What Does Warsofsky Think of Macklin’s Mini-Slump? (+)

COLUMBUS — Ryan Warsofsky thinks Macklin Celebrini is still playing excellent hockey.

That’s not just coach-speak, despite Celebrini’s recent mini-slump, two assists in his last six games. No coincidence, Celebrini’s San Jose Sharks have also slipped: They’re on a six-game losing streak that’s pretty much finished their playoff hopes.

It seems strange to call out what’s basically just a two-week cold spell, but such is Celebrini’s importance to San Jose: The Sharks are 1-16-2 when Celebrini doesn’t notch a point.

Celebrini, however, is still impacting the game on multiple levels, even when he’s not scoring.

Thursday’s 2-1 OT loss at the St. Louis Blues will be remembered for what Macklin Celebrini called his misjudgment of the time left on the clock, which caused him to slow down on his backcheck of Dylan Holloway, the last-second game-winner. Thought is, the 19-year-old is wearing down, as his sophomore season winds to a close.

We don't need no stinkin' shootout. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/waHipmMS8M

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 27, 2026

But the scoreboard won’t show his B-game, the many puck battles and defensive plays that Celebrini made to get the San Jose Sharks into OT.

Personally, I’d be more concerned about Celebrini and fatigue if he was losing more puck battles than usual. But he didn’t look tired bullying Blue after Blue for the puck yesterday. He might not be as fresh as he was in October, that’s any player who averages over 20 minutes a night, but he’s still San Jose’s best player by a mile. While the Sharks still have a ghost of a chance to make the playoffs, he’s San Jose’s best shot for a miracle run.

“At the end of day, he is playing some really good hockey,” Warsofsky insisted.

Celebrini’s B-game, and the fact that he is still getting plenty of chances, suggests that he’ll start scoring soon.

Warsofsky certainly believes it.

The San Jose Sharks’ bench boss spoke today about whether Celebrini is tired, if his teen sensation is trying to do too much by himself, why Celebrini isn’t scoring as much recently, how they’re trying to manage his minutes, and why this mini-slump will be just a small speed bump in his superstar center’s career.

Celebrini didn’t practice with the San Jose Sharks today, getting a maintenance day, which has been a fairly regular occurrence since the Olympics.