Macklin Celebrini has led the San Jose Sharks to a solid start during the 2025-26 campaign and has caught the attention of his teammates both on and off the ice in the process.
“He’s special,” Vincent Desharnais told reporters (1:35 mark). “Everyone in this building sees how special he is as a player, as a human being as well. He’s just not an assh–e walking around and saying he’s the best player. He always wants to get better every day.
“Next day he’s going to be one of the first guys on the ice to work on something else. It’s impressive to see, it inspires everyone to follow him.”
The comments come after Celebrini scored a hat trick in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth. It was his second hat trick of the season after he notched one during an October overtime victory over the New York Rangers.
San Jose made the 19-year-old center one of its franchise cornerstones when it selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft.
That was plenty of pressure to put on a young player, but he delivered with 63 points on 25 goals and 38 assists as a rookie and is on track for even more production in his second season. Through 20 games in 2025-26, the youngster has 30 points on 13 goals and 17 assists.
Celebrini is tied for second in the league in points with the great Connor McDavid and behind only Nathan MacKinnon’s 33. If he can keep up this pace, it is only a matter of time before he is widely considered one of the game’s elite playmakers.
Desharnais previously played for the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins, which means he was teammates with McDavid and Sidney Crosby. He knows what it is like to be around greatness more than most, and Celebrini has clearly made quite the impression on the veteran defenseman.
Having a star leading the way has also led to notable improvement in the standings.
San Jose was an ugly 20-50-12 last season but is off to a 9-8-3 start in 2025-26. It is just two points behind the Seattle Kraken for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference in the early standings.
The Sharks haven’t made the playoffs since the 2018-19 campaign, and Celebrini would become even more of a fan favorite if he helps end that drought.
