How Are Teams Trying To Stop Celebrini? How Will He Respond?

ST. LOUIS — Teams are figuring out Macklin Celebrini…and he’s figuring them out.

“Now, there’s no secret, when we get pre-scouted, what he can do with the puck,” San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said after tough losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers last week.

Winning NHL First Star of the Week — the 18-year-old rookie beat out Quinn Hughes and Jakob Chychrun for the honor after four goals and three assists in the last week of November — will put you in the crosshairs.

So how are teams trying to stop Celebrini? Celebrini, Warsofsky, and the Florida Panthers’ Paul Maurice and Nate Schmidt shared their thoughts.

And what’s Celebrini going to do about it? Celebrini and Warsofsky had different ideas.

71 vs. 71

The Lightning hard-matched their top defensive center Anthony Cirelli on Celebrini on Dec. 5.

That’s Tampa Bay saying that they saw Celebrini and his line as the San Jose Sharks’ most dangerous threat.

Remember, the Lightning were at Amalie Arena, so they had last line change, the choice of which San Jose Sharks center that they wanted to use their Selke Trophy candidate on. Head coach Jon Cooper has tended, when he’s had the choice, to use Cirelli as much as he can on the opposition’s No. 1 center, to shadow the likes of Jack Eichel, Nathan MacKinnon, Auston Matthews, and now, Celebrini, this year.

When I say shadow, I mean shadow.

Watch Cirelli (71) follow Celebrini (71) around the rink — all clips courtesy of SportContract.

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