Sheng Peng
PITTSBURGH — We’re just six games into Macklin Celebrini’s NHL career, but a couple clear trends have emerged.
It’s one key area where the San Jose Sharks’ 2024 first-overall pick is already outstanding — and one area where he must improve.
From Celebrini’s first appearance as a Shark in Rookie Faceoff, he’s been able to push back defenses with his speed and deception. Of course, it’s a far cry to do that in a prospects tournament, as opposed to the best league in the world.
Impressively, Celebrini has done just that.
Henry Thrun (3) sneaks the puck past Mats Zuccarello (36) and the Minnesota Wild’s aggressive forecheck. Mikael Granlund (64) serves Celebrini (71) in stride. From blueline to blueline, Celebrini pushes back the Wild defense, gaining the zone and getting the puck in Granlund’s vicinity.
“He has some deception to his game. He’s got some speed to push teams back,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said.
Celebrini is always looking up with the puck at full speed, which is part of what makes him so hard to read for the defense. On top of that, he stickhandles the puck at such a high level.
This elite ability to push back defenses has made Celebrini a near-automatic power play entry.
By San Jose Hockey Now’s count, Celebrini has gained the zone with possession on the power play in 22-of-24 attempts through six games. He’s the San Jose Sharks’ No. 1 zone entry option on the PP.
Here’s a typical entry, clip courtesy of SportContract, a drop pass from quarterback Timothy Liljegren (37):
“I just take what the D gives you, not thinking about that too much,” Celebrini said. “I’m just kind of reading off the situation, whatever the gap is, or the space between me and the D.”
And here’s a more extraordinary entry, an example of how much offense Celebrini can create with this elite ability.
“No issue with the pace and can tell he has a real good feel for the game already,” an NHL scout, not with the San Jose Sharks, told San Jose Hockey Now. “Really like his attack mentality offensively and creativity at speed. Lots of flash in his game, but purposeful.”
It’s easy to forget at times that Celebrini is just 18.
Also, keep in mind, he missed almost a month of his rookie season.
“I knew there was gonna be a little bit of adjustment period where I wasn’t feeling great and maybe I mishandled some pucks,” Celebrini said, “but hopefully, I can clean it up.”
Overall, Celebrini’s puck management needs work, as he’s trying to figure what he can and can’t do at this level.
There’s also the when: There’s a time to go, go, go…and a time to hold back.
One-goal lead, five minutes left, you want to stay aggressive, but you can’t turn the puck over high in your offensive zone at that point of the game. That feeds the counterattack, which results in a Mario Ferraro (38) penalty.
“He’s 18 years old. He’s learning. What’s that, his fourth game in the league?” Warsofsky said. “He’s learning those times where to make plays and when you can’t make plays, and it’s up to the coaching staff to show him those examples.”
In general, it’s fair to say that Celebrini is still learning the value of the puck in the best league in the world. A mistake is turned back in your face so quickly.
“There’s a couple times where I fumble the puck and haven’t been sharp where I lose the puck and those can’t happen,” Celebrini admitted.
“A couple of avoidable turnovers,” the scout said, “but those will likely iron themselves out.”
Ultimately, that’s the point.
We’ll have to remind ourselves of this constantly this season: Celebrini is just 18.
These are good growing pains.
“We’re never going to take the stick out of his hand, he’s a special player,” Warsofsky said. “He’s going to learn and grow. The more games, the more experiences he goes through, the better he’s going to be.”