Macklin Celebrini, a forward at Boston University in Hockey East, is filing a draft diary for NHL.com this season leading up to the 2024 NHL Draft. The 17-year-old center (6-foot, 190 pounds) and native of North Vancouver, Canada, is the projected No. 1 pick in the draft. He leads the Terriers in goals (10), points (25) and shots on goals (65) in 15 games this season. Celebrini is submitting this month's entry from Sweden while representing Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg.
Hello from Sweden!
It's been an amazing week. First, being invited to Canada selection camp in Oakville, Ontario, for the World Juniors and then being told I made the team was obviously a dream come true. My roommate in Oakville was Matthew Wood (Nashville Predators). I loved camp, it was short, but they treated us amazingly. I really enjoyed it.
The day we were told we made the team (Dec. 14), Woody and I were just hanging out watching television and kind of forgot about the fact Canada may be making its rounds to welcome those players who made the team. Then we got a knock at the door and I think we both popped up and kind of got a little excited.
I'm glad I'll only have to miss one game for Boston University (at Yale on Dec. 29) while representing Canada at the World Juniors. I won't miss much, so it was really easy decision for me to play World Juniors.
To have success in this tournament, it takes discipline, being able to control your emotions because these games can kind of go back and forth and momentum can swing. So staying disciplined is important. You can't give up unnecessary chances against, and just focus on capitalizing on your opportunities. That's also a big thing.
We play the United States in a pre-tournament game on Saturday, so I'll go head-to-head with my Boston University teammate, Lane Hutson (Montreal Canadiens) and that'll be fun. Obviously, Lane's an amazing defenseman so I'm looking forward to playing him and against the U.S. I've never played against Lane before, only with him, so I have to be careful. He's a pretty good player, but the rivalry between Canada and U.S. is always exciting.
When the game is over, we'll talk. We'll always be friends. He's a great guy. We've gotten close at BU, but when we're battling, we're battling. We go at it pretty good in practice, too, so I can't wait for an actual game.
The World Juniors has always been a huge event in the Celebrini household over the holidays. For as long as I can remember, we've been watching this tournament every Christmas. I can't remember a year I didn't watch the tournament, so it's a big thing.
I think the best moment I can clearly remember meaning so much for our country was the 2020 IIHF World Juniors when forward Alexis Lafreniere had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in five games and Canada came back to defeat Russia 4-3. I mean, that win kind of sums it up, beating Russia and the way Canada came back in the final was pretty cool.
There hasn't been much talk about a three-peat for Canada. I think we're a separate team, obviously representing the same country with the same goal, but I think it's a little bit different, just having a different team. We want to make our mark and if we're fortunate to make that happen, we will three-peat, but I think we just want to win this tournament.
Finally, I was also asked to comment about the 2024 NHL Draft possibly taking place in Sphere in Las Vegas. To be honest, I had totally forgotten about that. I didn't really know if it was going to happen or not, and then once it was mentioned, I was pretty excited. I've never been to Vegas so that'll be really cool.
Well, that's it for this month. I hope everyone enjoys the World Juniors and has a great New Year.
