SAN JOSE – The Sharks’ training camp begins Thursday, and by the time it wraps up later this month, Macklin Celebrini could be the team’s newest captain.

After all, Celebrini, with the full backing of Sidney Crosby and other respected NHL veterans, captained Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in May, when he was still 19.

Now that Celebrini, who turned 20 in June, is signed through the 2021-32 season, why wouldn’t he wear the ‘C’ for a Sharks team that he’s led in scoring each of his first two years in the NHL?

General manager Mike Grier wasn’t ready to make any announcements in late July after giving Celebrini, who was an alternate captain last season, a five-year, $94 million contract extension. But it’s only a matter of time before Celebrini becomes the 11th full-time captain in Sharks history, possibly by Oct. 1, when the Sharks host the Florida Panthers to open their most anticipated season in close to a decade.

“I feel I’m comfortable with myself and how I lead,” Celebrini said last month when asked about the challenges of captaining a team, “and I don’t think it’d really change anything in the way I approach every day.”

Here are five other questions for the Sharks during training camp.

Can a Will Smith deal get done?

It’s a great time to be a young player in the NHL. A rising salary cap over the next few years — coupled with the inflationary effects of Leo Carlsson’s five-year, $90 million contract signed this summer — has led to a dramatic escalation in dollars given to players in their early 20s.

Will Smith, 21, will also get paid handsomely someday, too, and considering he was the team’s second-leading scorer the past two seasons, it would be a surprise if the average annual value of his next deal was less than $10 or $11 million (but not greater than $13 million).

Grier said on July 29 that he hoped to get a contract extension with Smith, who is entering the final year of his entry-level contract and is eligible for one. If not, Grier said, “We’ll probably stay at it throughout the season and see how the season goes.”

It’s not the end of the world if a deal for Smith isn’t finalized before the end of camp or even before Christmas. But if Smith has a great year, then his next contract could be that much more expensive.

How will Yaroslav Askarov look?

Last season, the Sharks had a team save percentage of .882, which ranked 25th in the NHL. Part of that was because the Sharks allowed 2,432 shots, the sixth most in the league.

The Sharks need to be better at shot suppression, of course, but they would also love to see Yaroslav Askarov look good during camp and in however many exhibition games he plays. During last year’s preseason, Askarov was 0-3 with an .855 save percentage, leading the coaching staff to start Alex Nedeljkovic as the season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Nedeljkovic is a solid, veteran goalie, but the Sharks need Askarov to take a step forward this season after an up-and-down rookie year. A good camp, short as it may be, can only help in that respect.

Who will be on the Sharks’ No. 1 defense pair?

The Sharks feel they’ve improved their blue line with the sizeable additions of Jacob Trouba via free agency and Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring via trade. They join returnees Dmitry Orlov and Sam Dickinson.

But who will play on the top pair? Who will get the most difficult assignments each night?

Trouba, 32, seems like a good bet to start the season in that role. For most of last season, the right-shot veteran was second among all Ducks defensemen in average time on ice (22:50) while adding 35 points.

Whether it makes sense for the Sharks to start Nurse, Orlov, or Dickinson alongside Trouba, if that’s how it works out, will have to be determined during camp. Orlov was in that spot with the Sharks last season, and Nurse played that role many times with the Edmonton Oilers. Both had varying degrees of success.

The Sharks would love to see Dickinson take a step forward this year, but giving him top pair minutes right away after he was sheltered for most of last season could be a risky move

Will the Sharks carry three goalies?

The Sharks signed veteran goalie Eric Comrie to a two-year contract on July 1, raising speculation that they might carry three goalies at the start of the season, with Askarov and Nedeljkovic as the other two.

It would be a surprise if it happened. While Comrie has plenty of NHL experience, the Sharks seemingly signed him knowing they would likely have to put him through waivers at some point to have him be the Barracuda’s No. 1 guy.

“It just depends on teams’ injuries and their needs, and anything can happen within that,” Barracuda general manager Joe Will said in July when asked if he was concerned about losing Comrie on the waiver wire. “But when you take a player on waivers, you have to have room for him, and usually goaltenders have to be one of your top two.”

Which young guys crack the roster?

Despite the Sharks’ offseason additions, there is still room for rookies to make the team out of camp.

Assuming the Sharks carry 14 forwards to start the season, winger Ivar Stenberg, the second overall pick in June’s NHL draft, should make the team. The Sharks also have openings for sixth and seventh defensemen, and Luca Cagnoni, 21, and Nolan Allen, 23, might have the inside track to those roles.

Still, despite Cagnoni’s offensive gifts, he needs to show he can capably defend at the NHL level. If not, can first-year pro Eric Pohlkamp or Libor Hájek, a veteran of 110 NHL games, push for a job?

Allen, a 2021 first-round pick by the Blackhawks, is no longer waivers-exempt but could carve out a role as a steady, reliable third-pair option for coach Ryan Warsofsky.

“Anytime you come into training camp, and there’s jobs to be won, impressions to be made, it’s a fun time of year,” said Barracuda coach John McCarthy, who had Cagnoni and Allen on his roster last season. “As competitive people, they, as well, kind of embrace that, so it’s fun to be a part of.”