SAN JOSE – Macklin Celebrini raised his arms and celebrated what he thought was linemate William Eklund’s goal.
The No. 1 pick of the 2024 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks soon found out differently.
“I was like, ‘Nice goal,’ and [Eklund] was like, ‘I didn’t score, you did,'” the center said to laughs after getting a goal and an assist in his NHL debut in San Jose’s 5-4 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center on Thursday.
“I mean, I thought he was just super excited that he scored but I guess he was happy for me.”
It wasn’t the ending the Sharks hoped for, but there still was plenty to be excited about, especially for Celebrini.
The 18-year-old became the youngest player in Sharks history to score in his NHL debut. He’s the first Sharks player to score in his first NHL game since forward Danil Gushchin did it April 1, 2023. He’s the second-fastest No. 1 pick to score a goal in his League debut. Mario Lemieux scored 2:59 into his first game with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 11, 1984.
At 18 years, 119 days, Celebrini is the sixth-youngest player in NHL history to score in his debut, behind Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov (18 years, 31 days) and former NHL forwards Eddie Olczyk (18 years, 56 days), Bobby Carpenter (18 years, 86 days), Dainius Zubrus (18 years, 111 days) and Rick Nash (18 years, 116 days).
“He did what everybody expected him to do,” said right wing Tyler Toffoli, whose first goal with the Sharks came off a Celebrini pass from behind the net at 17:14 of the first period.
“He made some really good plays. I think at the end of the day, he’s obviously got to be pumped personally for himself, but he wants to win and he’s like everybody else in here.”