Macklin Celebrini's big NHL debut: What we saw from the Sharks' No. 1 pick

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SAN JOSE, Calif. — On most measures, Macklin Celebrini’s first NHL game was wildly successful.

Coming into the league amid much fanfare as the No. 1 pick of the 2024 draft, Celebrini not only scored a goal on a highlight-reel play but also set up another for the San Jose Sharks within his first period of action. It didn’t take him long to be noticeable, and the seeds of a potentially great career were planted.

Just ignore the final score.

Of course, Celebrini won’t and neither will the Sharks after St. Louis rallied from a 4-1 third-period deficit to force overtime and then finished the comeback on a Brayden Schenn goal.

So, a momentous night couldn’t be fully enjoyed. How much did it mean to score a goal and an assist in his debut?

“It’s cool to get the first of both for my career,” Celebrini said. “We lost, so … it sucks.”

It was also the first game for Will Smith, the Sharks’ other hyped prospect and the No. 4 pick in 2023. Celebrini, 18, and Smith, 19, came out for the rookie solo lap together to big applause by Sharks fans at SAP Center. Louder cheers were thrown their way as each was announced to the sellout crowd in the pre-game introduction ceremony on opening night.

“It means a lot,” Smith said. “To come to an organization in Year 1 and be treated like that, it’s pretty special. We’re trying to bring energy back here and I think it’s working.”

Smith would play 13:41 and register two shots on goal as he centered Mikael Granlund and Fabian Zetterlund on the second line. Celebrini finished with 17:35 of ice time as San Jose’s No. 1 center.

“I thought he was good,” said Ryan Warsofsky, who had his own first game as San Jose’s head coach, of Celebrini. “I thought he was really good. Obviously points is one thing. Some things he needs to learn without the puck. Him and Will. I thought they were both solid in their debuts.”

The Athletic examined all 22 of Celebrini’s shifts and assessed the plays he made — those that went right and a few that didn’t go his way.

First period

Shift 1 | 20:00 | 0-0

With the starting lineup nod, Celebrini took the opening faceoff against Blues star Robert Thomas and won it. He’d take his first bump from St. Louis forward Jake Neighbours and battle for the puck before focusing on defensive coverage at the net on a 43-second first shift.

Shift 2 | 17:26 | 0-0

Celebrini jumped over the boards to be the lead on a forecheck but couldn’t get to the Blues’ Matthew Kessel fast enough to put pressure on the defenseman. He jousted briefly with Dylan Holloway as a shot came to Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. The Sharks couldn’t get possession to go on the offensive attack.

Shift 3 | 13:37 | 1-0

This was the moment that lit up the sellout SAP Center crowd. Jake Walman blocked a shot in his end and hit Willam Eklund with a breakout pass. Eklund hit Celebrini in stride at the St. Louis blue line. Celebrini sized up Blues defenseman Ryan Suter and did a full spin-o-rama move as he threw a no-look backhand pass to the slot. Eklund was the target as he rushed the net. The puck instead went off Kessel’s leg, with the carom shooting past Blues goalie Joel Hofer for a San Jose lead at the 7:01 mark.

“Didn’t see a lot of options,” Celebrini said. “They had a couple guys back and I saw Ekky driving the net and I thought he had a step on the defenseman. I just tried to fake up and just throw one into the middle and see if he could get a stick on it. It was just a lucky bounce off the (defenseman’s) skate.”

Shift 4 | 11:41 | 1-1

This shift was about Celebrini first getting into a couple puck battles — and then a mistake. The Blues’ Zach Bolduc got the puck and made a move toward Celebrini. Bolduc quickly threw it back to Philip Broberg and Celebrini took a spill. Jordan Kyrou made an inside move and got a pass from Broberg to start a 2-on-1 rush with Pavel Buchnevich, who converted at the other end.

Shift 5 | 8:37 | 1-1

An offensive chance developed for Celebrini as he got the puck from Jan Rutta and swung around for a shot that was blocked by Broberg. The Sharks maintained possession and Celebrini banged his stick on the ice looking for a pass, but Mario Ferraro went in another direction with the puck.

Shift 6 | 5:55 | 1-1

This shift started with a giveaway in his zone to Holloway, who intercepted the pass at the San Jose blue line. But Celebrini quickly got the puck back and started a Sharks breakout. He charged up ice with Eklund as the two continued to work off each other. Eklund gave him a return pass and Celebrini used his speed to go wide before looking for Rutta on a backdoor play at the Blues net. The pass was slightly behind as Rutta’s stick got tied up. Still, the play showed what Celebrini is capable of when he’s moving at high speed.

Shift 7 | 2:59 | 2-1

Chemistry kept building between Celebrini and Eklund as they darted into the offensive end. This is where Celebrini’s anticipatory skills come into play. He correctly read that Rutta’s shot from the point would wind up behind the net and got to the puck. Before St. Louis forward Kasperi Kapanen could reach him, Celebrini spun and fed Tyler Toffoli a nifty pass that the winger finished to restore San Jose’s lead. A goal and a primary assist with just 17:14 elapsed.

“He did the same thing in the first game in the preseason we played together,” Toffoli said. “He’s incredible. Incredible talent. Works extremely hard. At the end of the day, he wants to win games too and he’s going to do whatever it takes.”

Shift 8 | 00:24.6 | 2-1

As the period closed out, Celebrini took Henry Thrun’s shot off the boards and made a move away from Schenn to get a shot off that Hofer gloved.

Second period

Shift 9 | 20:00 | 2-1

Celebrini started the period with another center-ice faceoff, but Thomas won this one — something that happened often. Celebrini marked Neighbours as the St. Louis left winger went to the net but also kept his eye on the puck high in the San Jose zone. Celebrini’s head is always up. Eventually, he’d get the puck to Sharks blueliner Cody Ceci and then ended his shift by fanning a bit on a dump-in attempt.

Shift 10 | 16:24 | 2-1

One of the few shifts where not much went down for him. At least not enough to make a definitive note on.

Shift 11 | 13:05 | 2-1

Celebrini lost another draw to Thomas cleanly. He recovered to force an offside, but lost another faceoff to Thomas. Winning faceoffs as a young center in the NHL is not an easy feat. Celebrini officially lost 13 of 14 he took, though it looked like he should have been credited with two more wins.

Shift 12 | 12:07 | 3-1

Nathan Walker’s slashing penalty gave San Jose its first power play and Celebrini’s first chance on the man advantage. Just like in the preseason, he worked the right side of the ice. Celebrini got off a snap shot that Hofer stopped, but the Sharks kept up the pressure and made it count with a nice play between Toffoli and Granlund that ended with Zetterlund’s punch-in at the net.

Shift 13 | 9:25 | 3-1

Another power play came by way of a Kapanen slash. This is where Celebrini’s zone entries were a factor. The Sharks got into the offensive end easily because of two pushes where Celebrini backed off Blues defenders. He played catch with Toffoli and Walman and hit Granlund with another spin pass. A great look to Zetterlund at the net was defended well by the Blues.

Shift 14 | 5:55 | 3-1

Celebrini got around Neighbours as he inched into the offensive zone, but had his pass picked off. Not much happened after that.

Shift 15 | :56 | 4-1

Just about five minutes went by before Celebrini hit the ice again, but that was only because Alex Wennberg got caught on the ice with a long shift that ended when Ceci was whistled for holding with 3:01 left. It worked out for the Sharks as Barclay Goodrow delivered a shorthanded goal. When he got back on the ice, Celebrini made a smart dump-in rather than forcing something at the St. Louis blue line. At that point, this game was looking like an opening night win.

Third period

Shift 16 | 20:00 | 4-1

Thomas won another draw against Celebrini to start the third. If nothing else, Celebrini showed his defense is often about reading where the play is going to go rather than being glued to his opponent. Warsofsky had Celebrini matched up against Thomas for most of the night.

“I thought he did a really good job with that matchup,” Warsofsky said. “We got to throw him into the fire here and let him go. He’s got to learn and get better just like every one of us.”

Shift 17 | 17:06 | 4-2

Celebrini took the ice after Radek Faksa cut into the Sharks’ lead. The shift ended quickly as Wennberg took his place following another lost draw.

Shift 18 | 13:49 | 4-3

A three-goal lead was suddenly down to one as Ryan Suter scored on his jump up into the play. Warsofsky geared Celebrini away from starting in the defensive zone, though he did win a faceoff against Buchnevich. Celebrini sized up Faulk to give himself a shooting angle and an attempt on goal that appeared to surprise Hofer.

Shift 19 | 11:24 | 4-3

This shift produced the last good scoring opportunity that Celebrini was involved in. Toffoli was his target again, but a backhand attempt was stopped after a deflection.

Shift 20 | 7:44 | 4-3

No offensive work on this shift, but after a successful Sharks penalty kill, Celebrini fended off Alexey Toropchenko on the boards to stop progression. Later, he battled with Faksa to get the puck to Toffoli, who relieved the pressure with a chip out.

Shift 21 | 4:33 | 4-3

Celebrini made a nice defensive play to get the puck out of his end to Eklund and the Sharks were momentarily out of danger.

That would be the youngster’s last shift of regulation as Warsofsky went with a more experienced crew in a bid to protect the lead as St. Louis pulled Hofer for an extra attacker. It was Walman, Goodrow, Wennberg, Ceci and Luke Kunin, with Eklund coming on for Goodrow. The Blues tied it when Faulk’s wrist shot from near the half-wall found its way past Blackwood to even the game at 4-4.

Overtime

Shift 22 | 5:00 | 4-5

This is where faceoff improvement for Celebrini will come in handy. He got the call for the 3-on-3 session but lost another draw to Thomas and the Blues maintained possession. They needed only 45 seconds. Celebrini didn’t put up much resistance against Schenn, who easily got by him and then blew a wrist shot past Blackwood for the winner.

Being tabbed for overtime by his coach didn’t soothe any wounds. “We got scored on,” he said. “I didn’t really feel too good about that.”

Following the game, there was no plan yet on where Celebrini would put the puck to commemorate his first NHL goal. There might not have been one even if they held on and won, but the loss was still fresh. “I wish I could give you an answer,” he said. “I have no idea.”

The youngster pushed the loss aside enough to offer some reflection on the moment. He’ll score many more goals and points. Wins will come. That first game only happens once. A forever memory.

“I think the whole process going up to it,” Celebrini said, checking off everything in the lead-up. “All my teammates. Going through it with Smitty too. That was really cool. Just all those memories, those plays. First shift. All that. The warm-up. Rookie lap. I tried to soak up as much as I could.”

(Photo: Kavin Mistry / NHLI via Getty Images)





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Erika Walls is a journalist who loves writing about business and finance news. She's been working in the industry for over 15 years, and she's published hundreds of articles on everything from the latest IPO to the hottest new stock pick.

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