The No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Celebrini made his Sharks debut at the 2024 Rookie Faceoff, scoring in a 3-2 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Sept. 13 in El Segundo, California. He did not play the remaining two games of the tournament.

The Sharks didn’t play Celebrini in Sunday’s rookie game contest against Anaheim, and there’s a strong possibility that he won’t suit up in another game until sometime during the preseason. Friday’s showing was enough for club officials to readily see that he’s already at a notch about his peers.

He looks like a kid. He sounds like a kid. He is a kid. But Macklin Celebrini does not carry himself like a kid. To be clear, he still has that youthful pep in his step.

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