Celebrini for Calder

[mogambomoroo]

It's so great to see Sharks back at being one of the more interesting teams of NHL. I mean it was pretty clear Celebrini would help the organization get back some respect, but it has gotten out of hands... every other hockey video made on YouTube is about how Celebrini is seen to be better than Bedard, Michkov and even taking the crown of the generational player out of those two.

We as Sharks fans have hyped Celebrini from the day we knew we had the 1st overall pick, because of that's who we got to have on this particular draft. It would have been same if Sharks got 1st overall in Bedard draft. But little did we know... how underrated he ended up being, it's actually crazy.
We knew he could play a solid two-way game, but he is actually playing better two-way game than a lot two-way veterans which one of the most impressive things a 18-year old player could achieve. We knew he could score, but he is point per game as an 18-year old on a bad team. He seems to just be everything and more, it's honestly a shock after last year. This new era of Sharks hockey is so exciting that I'm actually speechless.

Celebrini for Calder.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

We definitely have not hyped Celebrini up since day one. The hype has really only exploded ever since he has come back from injury and we get to watch him dazzle us every game.

Watching him is like I have something injected into my veins. He scurries around the ice like a frantic rat. I always asked myself of Oiler fans when they were non contenders, how can you possibly watch a game just for one player (Mcdavid)? Wouldn't it be boring? Well, now i watch the Sharks and all my eyes are glued to Celebrini haha. I can see from the perspective of Oiler fans now

 

[coooldude]

We definitely have not hyped Celebrini up since day one. The hype has really only exploded ever since he has come back from injury and we get to watch him dazzle us every game.

Watching him is like I have something injected into my veins. He scurries around the ice like a frantic rat. I always asked myself of Oiler fans when they were non contenders, how can you possibly watch a game just for one player (Mcdavid)? Wouldn't it be boring? Well, now i watch the Sharks and all my eyes are glued to Celebrini haha. I can see from the perspective of Oiler fans now

100% agreed. He's worth the watch alone.

While all signs point in an amazing direction, my long term concern with Celebrini is how much headroom he has for further improvement.

• Physical development. He's definitely not fully matured as a human. I think we can expect him to develop some strength, and hopefully some even more explosiveness (ala Nate MacK) through approx 23-ish. However, his physical development won't be as obvious as, say, Will Smith's, so it's not like his upside is massive here.
• Skills. Hopefully he gets even better at, e.g., a variety of shot releases, puck control, faceoffs, shootouts/breakaways. For something like faceoffs, he could go from ~50% to 55% and be an NHL leader if he puts in the effort, probably. He's not likely to become as good a goal scorer as Matthews but he can certainly improve his shot accuracy, selection, and finish on breakways/SO's.
• Skating. He's already a very solid skater and has lots of quick-burst explosiveness, but there are definitely areas he could improve his edgework to go from excellent to NHL/world-elite. However, I'm not sure this will be a huge jump.
• Hockey sense, decision making, and all around responsible play: he's starting at a pretty high base here. There will be improvement, but it might be less than other rookies/18yo's. If he can push this into the stratosphere then we will see him become truly Crosby-lite or better, and his ppg will become 1.3-1.5ppg like the very best in the league.
• Effort/compete. There's not much more he can put in here. He doesn't take games off. What that means is "wysiwyg", we're not likely to see Macklin turn on another otherworldly gear in the playoffs, for example.

So there's massive upside, but the flat/downside case for Mack - meaning, we would get a great 6-10 years but maybe like Tavares his game stabilizes and then peters out - would be:

• Only a bit more physical development
• Skills get better but he doesn't reach the MacKinnon-level
• Skating gets a little better but he's mostly close to finished form
• Hockey sense, decision making, responsible play gets better and puts him in Selke territory but he doesn't break through to Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Barkov/Bergeron levels
• Effort/compete is already maxed so you see his ability to keep up slowly erode as his maxed body and maxed effort leads to nagging injuries.

There's every reason to believe the upside scenario that he becomes a more defensively minded, perhaps slightly less dangerous/explosive MacKinnon, which is a cornerstone piece that could definitely lead us to a cup. There's also a little worry that he's starting close to max and so there's not a massive jump to come from here. His young age tips me toward optimism but I wanted to lay out the concern case.

 

[Hodge]

We definitely have not hyped Celebrini up since day one. The hype has really only exploded ever since he has come back from injury and we get to watch him dazzle us every game.

Watching him is like I have something injected into my veins. He scurries around the ice like a frantic rat. I always asked myself of Oiler fans when they were non contenders, how can you possibly watch a game just for one player (Mcdavid)? Wouldn't it be boring? Well, now i watch the Sharks and all my eyes are glued to Celebrini haha. I can see from the perspective of Oiler fans now

Not to pump my own tires but I called it before the season started:

I don't think the league is ready for how good Macklin is going to be right off the bat. Whether it's due to Bedard fatigue or Team Canada underperforming at the WJC or whatever else, I feel like he's been one of the least hyped 1OAs in recent memory. Fans and media are not prepared for how NHL ready his game is, the fact he does some Jack Hughes-lite stuff carrying the puck and the way his one-timer from the right flank is going to make him one of the most lethal power play threats in the league immediately. Not to mention the kind of legit defensive IQ that's unheard of for an 18 year old rookie.

It was just so obvious from watching his first preseason game and the training camp scrimmages/practices that Mack was on a completely different level compared to even an average 1OA pick. The scary part for everyone else is that he hasn't been fully unleashed on the power play yet but that's coming.

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

I’m not convinced Macklin can’t become as good as or better than MacKinnon. MacKinnon may have better physical tools but Macklin has higher hockey IQ.