Macklin Celebrini is one of the best young players to play in the NHL in a long time. Before Christmas he scored twenty goals and 57 points in 38 games. That’s third in NHL scoring, behind only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.
Celebrini is also a plus-13 in a team that hasn’t exactly traveled four lines of comfort. That kind of scoring territory usually belongs to guys with mortgage payments and Olympic experience already under their belt. But at 19, he is no longer “promising”; he delivers undeniably.
Celebrini says he is not thinking about the Olympics
Celebrini keeps telling us he’s not thinking about the Olympics. He has no control over those decisions. And he’s right. But history tells us otherwise: Team Canada doesn’t ignore these types of players for long – not when the lights get brighter and the ice gets smaller.
What struck me most when I listened to him after the Sharks’ win in Vancouver wasn’t the numbers. It was the way he talked about the work. The way he framed the season was not as a breakout, but as a reaction to a slide. A young player who understands the correction before the party usually lasts.
There is no longer any doubt about Celebrini’s talent. He is not on the right track; his entire season has been a hot streak. Get ready for the new normal in the NHL. The youngster has seven consecutive games with points. He scored five goals and nine assists during that stretch. In that series, he put 121 shots on net. That tells you he’s not waiting for the game to come to him. He goes looking for it.
Celebrini’s confidence and skill can help Team Canada
What Celebrini brings could be important when building an Olympic squad. Team Canada doesn’t need a new highlight reel. It takes players who can survive shifts where nothing clean happens. Players who can think quickly when space disappears. Players who don’t need the game are set in their favor to influence it.
No matter how young he is, Celebrini already plays like that. Keep a close eye on his targets, and they won’t be accidents. His one-timer against his hometown Vancouver Canucks was unhurried. The positioning at the John Klingberg goal earlier in the match was not forced. He handles the ice like someone who has experienced a few playoff disappointments – which is remarkable considering how young he still is.
Celebrini also plays defense, which might be the biggest reason to consider him
And then there’s the defensive side. Plus-13 at his age, on that selection, is not an addition. It is consciousness. He gets positioning and understands that fouling is not an excuse for responsibility. Team Canada has learned – sometimes painfully – that you can’t just pile on talent and hope the details will work themselves out.
Celebrini already looks like a detail guy. The other thing he brings – and this is harder to quantify – is freedom. Put him on par with veterans, and he won’t back down. Put him with other young players and he won’t drift away. He adapts. That flexibility is exactly what Olympic hockey requires: line combinations change in the blink of an eye and the chemistry must be formed by Tuesday afternoon.
Celebrating a finish for Team Canada?
None of this is to say that he has to make the team. It seems like it’s hard to get it off. The panel at Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday said they all have him as a lock, with Kevin Bieksa even going so far as to suggest he is a lock for the top six.
They are not the only analysts and insiders who feel that Celebrini’s selection is inevitable. At some point, the question is no longer whether he is ready, but the question becomes where they put him on the roster and how he can best utilize his talents.
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