VANCOUVER — The last time we saw Macklin Celebrini inside Rogers Arena, he was amidst the hoards of Vancouver Canucks fans cheering on the home squad during last May’s Game 7.
The next time we see him, he won’t be in the stands — he’ll be on the ice as a member of the San Jose Sharks, skating opposite the team he once cheered for. (“Sharks now,” the youngster quipped when asked about his viral jumbotron moment, shutting down any implications he still holds a soft spot for his hometown team.)
It’s a full-circle moment for Celebrini, who at eight years old would tear up the ice and hang out in the arena’s family room between periods with his brother when his father — now with the NBA’s Golden State Warriors — worked for the Canucks.
Monday’s game will mark the first time he skates on the ice as an NHL player.
So, how does it feel to be back?
“Pretty surreal,” the 2024 first-overall pick admitted following Sunday’s practice. “Skating here when I was younger, trying to put myself in like an NHL player situation and pretend to be them, and now [I] get to practice here and get ready for the game tomorrow.
“I think every time I was here, I’d want to skate and kind of get on that ice, just because the NHL has always been a dream of mine. To do that as a kid was pretty cool, and tomorrow’s going to be pretty cool as well.”
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Celebrini returns to his hometown now having gone through a whirlwind eight months. Following his first year at Boston University, Celebrini joined Adam Fantilli (2023) and Jack Eichel (2015) as the only freshmen to have won the Hobey Baker since Paul Kariya in 1993. Just over two months later, he was selected first overall by the Sharks and has since cemented himself as one of the team’s most exciting players of the 2020s.
The 18-year-old might be third in rookie scoring with 11 goals and 12 assists in 24 games, but he leads the league’s newbies in points-per-game (.958) while centring the Sharks’ second line between Nikolai Kovalenko and one-time Canuck Tyler Toffoli.
Just over two months into his first NHL season, he’s already making an impact.
The first time the Canucks played the Sharks this season, Celebrini was injured. Now, the home team will be faced with containing the smooth-skating forward for the first time.
“I watched him last night against Edmonton, I’ve watched him this year. I mean, he’s 18,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters following their practice at Rogers Arena. “I mean, the kid’s a player. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
An offensive phenom, to be sure, but Celebrini is still human and has faced an, albeit small, learning curve in trying to manage the strenuous, 82-game schedule in his first NHL season.
“It’s been good. I mean I’ve had a lot of vets, we have an amazing group of leaders in that room,” Celebrini, who has been living with Sharks great Joe Thornton during his rookie season, said. “We have an awesome staff that helps us with that, but it is tough to get up every day and perform.”
Even though the Sharks have lost 14 more games than they’ve won, there’s a bit more fun, and a sense of hope, around this franchise that hasn’t necessarily been there in years past. The squad took a powerhouse Oilers team to the brink on Saturday night, carrying a lead until they ultimately lost in overtime.
“We haven’t won too many in the past couple games, but we’ve been there,” Celebrini admitted. “We’ve been close enough where I think we should have won a couple of those games, but that’s the nature of it. You’re not going to win every game. We’re just going to keep trying to learn how to close out games, especially when we have the lead, how to protect it and how to shut some of those games out.”
The Sharks have an opportunity to build off their loss to the Oilers, even though they’re considered underdogs for Monday’s tilt. The Canucks have been slugging through December and have been uninspired, to say the least, at Rogers Arena and have won just six of 12 games on home ice.
Snapping a four-game skid is front of mind for Celebrini, though it helps that he will have a significant contingent in his corner amid an otherwise hostile crowd. Unfortunately for his wallet — and all too common when an NHL player returns home — this will be a pay-to-play game for Celebrini, forking out the cash to ensure his friends and family have the chance to watch him play an NHL game for the first time.
Included in that is his older brother and Canucks prospect, Aiden, who currently plays for Boston University. Is he going to ask the elder Celebrini to sport Sharks colours?
“I don’t think that would be wise,” Celebrini joked, adding he’d rather not see his brother in Canucks colours either. “Just keep it neutral.”
Even though he’s sporting a shark instead of an orca, Celebrini still has much love for the city and the memories he made here.
“I remember I saw Sid [Sidney Crosby] in the hallway, and me and my brother were kind of freaking out. We saw the scenes walking by and stuff. I mean, those are the memories that kind of stick with you,” Celebrini said.
“This is my hometown. So, [it means]a lot.”