Macklin Celebrini is “all but guaranteed” to be captain of the San Jose Sharks next year.
That’s what Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported in May.
Three months later, weeks before the beginning of training camp, San Jose Hockey Now followed up on the ESPN insider’s report.
“It’s too obvious,” a source told SJHN. “It’s all but certain.”
While San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier has been careful about putting too much on the shoulders of his precocious superstar since selecting him first-overall in the 2024 Draft, Celebrini has blown past already-lofty expectations, on and off the ice, in his two seasons in teal.
The 20-year-old was named alternate captain before last year, then put together a campaign for the ages.
He broke Joe Thornton’s single-season franchise record for points with 115, dragging the Sharks to a 34-point improvement in the standings, becoming the first teenager since Sidney Crosby in 2006-07 to be a Ted Lindsay Award finalist.
Crosby, Celebrini’s idol, was named captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins as a 19-year-old on May 31, 2007.
And Celebrini may have had an even more impressive season internationally: He was the first teen ever named to Team Canada for an NHL-headlined Olympics and starred on the first line. He was then named captain for Canada for the most recent World Championships, pacing his squad with six goals and 14 points in just 10 games.
Celebrini capped off his season to remember by signing a record-setting contract in July. The Sharks superstar will begin a five-year, $94 million extension with a current league-high $18.8 million AAV in 2027-28. As of now, Celebrini is on the way to becoming the highest-paid player ever in hockey history.
So while it’s understandable for the San Jose Sharks to have wanted to handle Celebrini with kid gloves — it’s clear that he doesn’t need them.
It seems like it’s just a matter of when the Sharks will make the announcement: Celebrini is set to become the 11th full-time captain in franchise history, and the first playing captain since Logan Couture in 2023-24.