Macklin Celebrini quickly made his mark for the San Jose Sharks.
The 18-year-old rookie scored the Sharks’ first goal of the season and added an assist during his first period as a pro on Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues, hinting at a brighter future for a team that has struggled for the past five years.
“It was awesome,” Celebrini said. “It’s everything I thought it would be for my first game. It was an amazing experience and I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.”
However, the exciting start turned disappointing for San Jose as the Sharks gave up a 4-1 lead in the third period and lost 5-4 in overtime.
Celebrini’s first goal came on his third shift and was a bit lucky. The former Boston University star rushed in and performed a spin-o-rama near the boards before attempting a pass to William Eklund. The puck hit defenseman Matt Kessel’s skate and went past goalie Joel Hofer at 7:01.
“I just tried to fake up and then just throw one to the middle and see if he could get a stick on it,” Celebrini said. “Just a lucky bounce off the d-man’s skate.”
Celebrini didn’t even realize he had scored until teammate Eklund told him during the celebration.
The goal brought loud cheers and chants of “Celebrini! Celebrini!” from fans who have been waiting for success but are excited by the team’s youth movement, led by Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and 2023 first-rounder Will Smith.
Celebrini wasn’t finished; he also assisted later in the first period with a pass from behind the net to Tyler Toffoli.
“He did the same thing in our first preseason game together, too,” Toffoli said. “He’s incredible, an 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.”
Celebrini became the youngest player in NHL history to get two points in the first period of his debut, according to Sportradar, achieving this at 18 years and 119 days old. The previous record was held by Shane Doan, who was 18 years and 362 days old when he had two points for Winnipeg against Dallas in 1995.
He also scored the second-fastest first goal ever for a No. 1 pick, just behind Mario Lemieux, who scored 2:59 into his debut against Boston on October 11, 1984.
“It was cool to get the firsts for both in my career, but we lost, so it sucks,” Celebrini said about having a goal and an assist.
The debuts of Celebrini and 19-year-old Smith mark the first time in nearly 26 years that the Sharks had two teenagers in the lineup.
It’s also the first time any team had two players picked in the top four of the draft make their debut in the same game since Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner did it for Toronto in 2016.
The two received loud cheers when they came on the ice for warmups in front of 17,435 fans, including Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green. Celebrini’s father, Rick, is the director of sports medicine for the Warriors.
The Sharks were one of the most successful teams in the NHL for 15 seasons, making 14 playoff appearances, reaching the Western Conference final five times, and appearing in the Stanley Cup Final in 2016.
Since reaching the conference final in 2016, the Sharks have missed the playoffs for five straight seasons, finishing last with only 19 wins in the 2023-24 season and recording the worst goal differential in 30 years.
The reward for that poor performance was winning the draft lottery, allowing San Jose to select Celebrini, who had 64 points in 38 games as a freshman at Boston University last season and won the Hobey Baker award as the top college player.
This pick came a year after San Jose drafted Smith fourth overall, who also joined the NHL after having a strong season at Boston College.
