VANCOUVER -- Macklin Celebrini already has a lot of memorable firsts in the NHL but playing his first game in his hometown will rank right up there with them.
The 18-year-old forward was selected No.1 by the San Jose Sharks in the 2024 NHL Draft in June. He scored his first goal and got his first assist in his first NHL game on Oct. 10 against the St Louis Blues. And on Monday, Celebrini will play his first NHL game against a Vancouver Canucks team that he grew up cheering for right through last season, in a building where he used to skate with his brother as a kid because his dad, Dr. Rick Celebrini, used to work for the Canucks.
“Skating here when I was younger, I kind of tried to put myself in an NHL player’s situation or shoes and pretend to be them and now I’m practicing here and getting ready for the game,” Celebrini said after practicing at Rogers Arena with the Sharks on Sunday. “It’s pretty surreal.”
Celebrini not only grew up in nearby North Vancouver, but his dad worked for the Canucks, so the hometown team and the arena is near and dear to his heart. He was here in May as a fan, sitting alongside older brother Aiden to watch the Canucks play the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
All of which makes his first NHL game in Vancouver a special occasion, with 50-60 friends and family coming to watch the game on Monday (9 p.m. ET; Prime, NBCSCA).
It’s a moment Celebrini imagined many times as a kid.
“I think every time I was here, I'd want to skate and kind of get on that ice, just because the NHL has always been a dream of mine, and to do that as a kid was pretty cool,” Celebrini said. “And now [Monday] is going to be pretty cool as well.”
Celebrini's dad worked with Vancouver from 2014-18 before leaving to become the director of sports medicine and performance for the NBA's Golden State Warriors. He’s “playing hooky” from the Warriors for a couple of days to be in Vancouver to see family and watch Macklin play his first game against the Canucks.
“This will always be home,” Rick Celebrini said. “I spent almost 50 years here in Vancouver, and the kids were all born and raised here, and they developed as athletes and as people here and part of that journey, really kind of at an influential age, was the four years that I spent with the Canucks. So, to see now Macklin practicing there today, and playing them [on Monday], it certainly is a full circle moment and one of those times in life where you just kind of check yourself and appreciate everything that's happened.”
Being back in Rogers Arena brought back a lot of memories for Macklin too.
“We'd go into the family room and between periods or after the game you peek your head out trying to see if you can see a guy or two,” he said. “I remember I saw [Sidney Crosby] one time in the hallway, and me and my brother kind of freaking out and we saw [Daniel and Henrik Sedin] walking by. Those are the memories that kind of stick with you.”
Now Celebrini is earning comparisons to Crosby from his coach in San Jose, Ryan Warsofsky.
“I'm not saying he's going to be Sidney Crosby but there are similarities in their games,” Warsofsky said. “Sidney is a really good 200-foot center, he does not cheat on the other side of the puck, he's a winner, and ‘Mack’ has a lot of those same qualities. … the skill set is obviously similar. Mack is probably even more dynamic in a sense, and that's not taking anything away from Crosby, but the biggest thing is I see winner written all over Macklin.”
Celebrini’s first NHL season started out like a nightmare. Injured in that NHL debut on Oct. 10, he missed the next 12 games with a hip injury. But since then, he has been living up to his status as the No. 1 pick, with 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in his next 23 games, including eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past six games. It’s helped San Jose (11-19-6), get back on track after going 0-8-2 in their first 10 games.
“The stuff that he's doing this year is incredible,” said Sharks forward and linemate Tyler Toffoli. “Not only is he amazing on the ice, but he's trying to get better every single day too. … He’s obviously a really special player and I think he's really excited to be back home and ready to play.”
The trip back home is also a chance for Celebrini to face some of the players he enjoyed watching as a fan, namely Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the best defenseman in the NHL.
"They got a couple of pretty special players. I'm excited to play against Quinn, for sure. He's someone that I've looked up to for a little bit now," Celebrini said last week. "He's one of the best defensemen, if not the best defenseman in the League.”
Even though he plays for the Sharks, Celebrini still has ties to the Canucks; brother Aiden was selected by Vancouver in the sixth round (No. 171) of the 2023 NHL Draft and is a defenseman for Boston University.
Macklin still comes to Vancouver in the offseason, even working out with Connor Bedard, the Blackhawks’ No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, who is also from North Vancouver. But during the season, he’s now the enemy in Vancouver, which made his previous trip to Rogers Arena a bittersweet one, getting a Canucks chant going knowing it would be the last time.
“Oh yeah,” Celebrini said on Sunday, “Sharks now.”
Aiden can still wear a Canucks jersey, but Macklin doesn’t want to see it Monday.
“He should just keep it neutral,” Celebrini said. “He can't wear a Canucks jersey either.”
