F Macklin Celebrini (2024, 1st, SJS)

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Apr 23, 2022
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What did you think
If I am being honest, he actually didn't stand out quite as much as I expected, although he really started to turn it on from the second half of the 2nd on. There weren't many opportunities for him to show off his explosive skating but his shot was really impressive on both goals And as Corso said, he is obviously a really smart player. He knows where to be on the ice to be successful. I have no doubts he will be a really, really, good player
 
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Chainshot

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If I am being honest, he actually didn't stand out quite as much as I expected, although he really started to turn it on from the second half of the 2nd on. There wasn't many opportunities for him to show off his explosive skating but his shot was really impressive on both goals And as Corso said, he is obviously a really smart player. He knows where to be on the ice to be successful. I have no doubts he will be a really, really, good player

And despite being significantly younger than everyone he's playing against right now, he's a competitive kid. He was involved in traffic all game, even when UMass was making it tough going earlier in the game.
 

IComeInPeace

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Hey guys..
Not to hijack this thread, but because you get to see BU, would you guys mind posting in the Willander thread about how he has looked thus far (ie meeting/not meeting expectations)?


Also how does Celebrini compare as a potential 1st overall to Jack Hughes or Bedard in their draft seasons?

Same tier? A tier below?
 

Faceboner

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Top prospects are getting so much better because they only have 1-2 concussions by Bantam instead 16
Yea I remember going into peewee one year and they took hitting out from squirt age Brackett had took more than my fair share of headshots, boarding and hits from behind before my midget years
 

Mathieukferland

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Also how does Celebrini compare as a potential 1st overall to Jack Hughes or Bedard in their draft seasons?
Compared to Bédard he lacks the offensive dynamism and shot that made him a generational prospect, but he has in my opinion better top end speed than Bedard. I would also say he’s a better 200ft player than Bédard.

Compared to Hughes (as a prospect, I realize he’s ripping up the nhl at the moment), his top end speed is similar if not better but his edgework and agility is behind what Hughes had as a prospect. Probably a better goal scorer and 200ft player at this stage too but Hughes was a significantly better playmaker. Celebrini, given he’s already near 190 pounds, is probably more pro ready than Hughes was as well.


Overall (as prospects) I would rank them


Bedard 9.75/10
Hughes 9.0/10
Celebrini 9.0/10
 

Icebreakers

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Celebrini may be better than Hughes as a prospect. Especially if he goes close to goal per game as an underager in college. BU isnt stacked either.
 

Herby

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Celebrini may be better than Hughes as a prospect. Especially if he goes close to goal per game as an underager in college. BU isnt stacked either.

I'd say a pinch below but it's close, what he's doing in the NCAA early on is quite impressive. I wish we had seen Hughes in the NCAA, he tried late in the game to get admitted to college for his age 17 season but it didn't work out.
 

macbowes

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I'd say a pinch below but it's close, what he's doing in the NCAA early on is quite impressive. I wish we had seen Hughes in the NCAA, he tried late in the game to get admitted to college for his age 17 season but it didn't work out.
Not exactly a one-to-one comparison, but as far as I can tell, Jack Hughes played 11 games against NCAA competition in his draft year with the U18 NTDP team, and in those games posted 4-14-18, good for 1.64 PPG. As a team, the NTDP went 7-4, with 52GF/40GA.

Currently, Celebrini has 8-3-11 in 6GP against NCAA competition, good for 1.83 PPG. As a team, BU is 3-2-1, with 24GF/19GA.

Still plenty of season left for Celebrini, so it's tough to say where he's going to end up with respect to Hughes. Hughes is more of a playmaker, whereas Celebrini a goal scorer, which makes the comparison a little tricker, but they are definitely in a similar tier of prospect.
 

Mathieukferland

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BC is on a role with producing top end prospects right now.

2023 Draft(First 2 Rounds)
Bedard
Benson
Wood
Molendyk
Myatovic
Cristall
Dragicevic

2024 Draft
Celebrini
Lindstrom
Buttazino
Iginla
Heslop
Marques
Wetsch
Mrsic
Western Canada in general I think has greatly benefited from the CSSHL, it has centralized the best players in the same league and raised the level of competition prairie kids especially would play against; could have 3 players in the next few drafts go first such as bedard, Mckenna, and DuPont from that league
 

Castle8130

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Celebrini may be better than Hughes as a prospect. Especially if he goes close to goal per game as an underager in college. BU isnt stacked either.
I think we should hold the brakes on comparing production to how good a prospect is. Hughes crushed the USHL, but he had extraordinary qualities outside of pure production. I'm still open minded that Macklin could be better, but I'm not sold as of today.

It's kind of similar to how Fantilli was viewed during this past draft year. Fantilli had a crazy productive season, but he was drafted behind Leo Carlsson. We will see how it plays out, but his production definitely overshadowed his prospect profile. (same with Cristall)
 
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Obvious Fabertism

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Celebrini leads the NCAA with 8 goals in 6 games and has three 2-goal games. Named Hockey East Player of the Week today.

Off the ice, he's writing a monthly draft diary for NHL.com.
2024 NHL Draft Diary: Macklin Celebrini | NHL.com

His buddy Eiserman is also doing a draft diary for NHL.com.
In his diary he mentions watching a ton of Bergeron growing up, that would explain some of the things I have seen in his game. Without going off on a tangent where I sound like a crotchety old man, I will just say that it is refreshing to see (what I consider) an elite prospect take the defensive side of the game as seriously as the offensive side.
 

Fraser28

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BC is on a role with producing top end prospects right now.

2023 Draft(First 2 Rounds)
Bedard
Benson
Wood
Molendyk
Myatovic
Cristall
Dragicevic

2024 Draft
Celebrini
Lindstrom
Buttazino
Iginla
Heslop
Marques
Wetsch
Mrsic

Yeah I think we’re entering the best stretch of all time for BC boys.

Western Canada in general I think has greatly benefited from the CSSHL, it has centralized the best players in the same league and raised the level of competition prairie kids especially would play against; could have 3 players in the next few drafts go first such as bedard, Mckenna, and DuPont from that league

I definitely agree, but BC in particular has been on fire.
 

95snipes

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The NoDak series exposed some of the 'hesitations' I had for Celebrini coming into the year. North Dakota is a good team and Celebrini played well, but he didn't create a ton outside of powerplay opportunities. NoDak did a good job containing him. He's not quite as puck dominant as Fantilli was on a shift to shift basis. Celebrini is a good skater, I just wish he was a touch faster. It could be the difference between a star and superstar.

What I really like about Celebrini is his ability to make himself dangerous. He's always a shooting threat. Combine that with good hockey sense and he could be really good with the right linemates. I'm just not sure if he'll be able to take a game over by himself like a MacKinnon or McDavid can. Don't get me wrong though, I still think he is very good and I'd take him 1st overall.
 

peconcan

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World juniors and then possibly invited to the worlds? We all know he won’t go to u18 since he already did last year
 

Sergei Shirokov

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The NoDak series exposed some of the 'hesitations' I had for Celebrini coming into the year. North Dakota is a good team and Celebrini played well, but he didn't create a ton outside of powerplay opportunities. NoDak did a good job containing him. He's not quite as puck dominant as Fantilli was on a shift to shift basis. Celebrini is a good skater, I just wish he was a touch faster. It could be the difference between a star and superstar.

What I really like about Celebrini is his ability to make himself dangerous. He's always a shooting threat. Combine that with good hockey sense and he could be really good with the right linemates. I'm just not sure if he'll be able to take a game over by himself like a MacKinnon or McDavid can. Don't get me wrong though, I still think he is very good and I'd take him 1st overall.


Its a hard league for a draft eligible, he wasn't the only one who had some troubles NoDak played well.

The thing I like was his compete, and his vision. Every puck was a battle that night but if he turns the puck over he knows his options immediately & moves it quick. We've seen the shot (and I agree he wasn't able to get many looks in the game) but his playmaking is still a threat when the shooting opportunities + open ice aren't there.

He's a complete package offensively & once he gets stronger he's going to be really good.
 

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