Editor’s note: Shen Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now and listen to his show on the San Jose Hockey Now podcast. You can also follow him on Twitter. Shen Peng.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – This will be Macklin Celebrini’s first NHL appearance with the Sharks, but it will also be his first time attending a San Jose game.
This may come as a surprise given that Celebrini played for the Junior Sharks in 2019-20.
“I didn’t have time to actually go out anywhere,” Celebrini said in a one-on-one interview with San Jose Hockey Now at the 2024 NHL Draft Combine.
Celebrini will have plenty of time to watch Sharks games, as he was selected first overall by San Jose in the 2024 NHL Draft on June 28 in Las Vegas.
The combine was where his relationship with the Sharks began, Celebrini said, as he had a chicken dinner with general manager Mike Grier and others at local favorite Buffalo Chophouse.
“I think we’ll have our usual dinners there,” Celebrini said, laughing. He said it was a good time and there were lots of jokes.
Celebrini has also been in contact with Will Smith, the Sharks’ No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, who just announced he’s turning pro. While Celebrini has never played against Smith, he has competed against him over the years at various levels, from the USHL to the NCAA.
“He completes plays that you think are impossible to complete,” Celebrini said. “We just text each other a little bit.”
So Celebrini knows he’ll be going to San Jose, even if he never publicly confirms he’s going to be a Shark.
He knows that after June 28 he won’t be a Vancouver Canucks fan anymore … at least not as much as he was before.
Celebrini grew up in Vancouver and was a huge Ryan Kesler fan as a kid, so much so that he was given the No. 17 jersey by the exemplary two-way centre, who played for the Canucks and Anaheim Ducks from 2003-2019.
“I think the year I started to like him was his breakout year,” Celebrini said of Kessler’s 2010-11 season in which he scored 41 goals and won the Selke Trophy. “He was playing great. His play led the Canucks along with the Sedin brothers. I remember going to a Canucks game and watching him and he scored like a couple of goals. From that moment on, I liked him.”
Is Celebrini, considered the perfect two-way center, modeling his play after the edgy Kessler?
“Indeed,” he said.[But] I watched him as a fan, more than as someone to learn from.”
All of this helped solidify Celebrini’s status as a Canucks fan, which led to him attending Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers with his brother, Aiden, in May.
This is the last time he’ll cheer on the Canucks, right?
“Yeah, maybe,” he laughed. “I’m not with any club in the NHL right now, so I just took the opportunity to root for the team that made it to the top.”
Of course, there’s also defenceman Aiden Celebrini, who was selected by Vancouver in the sixth round of the 2023 draft.
“I think I’m going to be a Canucks fan for a while, thanks to my brother,” he laughed. “I guess I’m allowed to do that.”
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