OAKVILLE, Ontario -- Macklin Celebrini stared at the ceiling in his bed. For the 17-year-old, all concept of time was lost. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes like hours, hours like …
“It felt like I was there for a lifetime,” he said.
Like his fellow players at Hockey Canada’s selection camp for the upcoming 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, the Vancouver native was playing the excruciating waiting game Wednesday. No matter that many in the hockey world expect him to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Until one of the team officials gave him the word that he’d made the roster, he wasn’t taking anything for granted.
Then came the long-awaited knock on his hotel room door. And all that changed.
He immediately texted his parents including his dad, Rick, the director of sports medicine and performance of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.
The message was simple.
He made it.
“It's amazing," he said. "Growing up, watching this tournament, watching the Olympics, you dream about playing with the Canadian jersey on. It’s one of the most special things you can do.
“It’s meant a lot to me ever since I was a little kid.”
Former NHL forward Jay Pandolfo, Celebrini’s coach with Boston University, knows exactly how much.
“We talked before he left for camp, and I can’t tell you the amount of pride this kid has in wearing that maple leaf on their chest,” Pandolfo said from Boston. “It means the world to him.”
So much so that he arrived at camp this past weekend with butterflies churning in his gut.
“I actually had nerves through the whole thing,” Celebrini said. “It’s something I wanted to do. So yeah, I was a bit nervous. But once you step on the ice, you feel more comfortable.”
He looked exactly that, getting a goal and an assist in Canada’s two-game series against U Sports, an all-star team of Canadian University players.
It was impressive, to say the least, including to some of his teammates.
“He’s a very special player, a generational talent,” forward Conor Geekie said.
* * * * *
What makes Celebrini so special?
Alyn McCauley had a firsthand view Tuesday.
The Philadelphia Flyers assistant general manager was standing seven rows behind the U Sports net when the Canadian forward had the puck in the slot late in the second period at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Celebrini, facing the opposite direction, somehow spotted teammate Jake Furlong coming in from the point, spun around and set up the defenseman for Canada’s third goal in a 4-1 victory.
It was Canada’s first tune-up for the upcoming tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden. And it left McCauley coming away impressed with Celebrini, who earned an A rating on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list in late October.
“Look at that play,” McCauley said. “I’ve always felt that what separates special players from the pack is that they have the ability to sense and feel the game at a different level. They’re always a step ahead mentally in terms of knowing where the next play is for themselves in those situations and areas that don’t seem open to them.
“In this instance, he’s able to sort out who’s open, who’s not open and make the play quickly. He’s spinning around, he’s facing one direction on that play, and he still finds the defenseman coming in.
“Everything about him is above the level of the norm, and he should be able to use those attributes to transition into the NHL easily, smoothly and quite possibly, quickly.”
Little wonder why he’s slated to be one of the top picks, if not No. 1, at the draft next summer.
As such, it was no surprise to see the arena clogged with NHL personnel such as McCauley, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving, Arizona assistant GM John Ferguson Jr., and Trent Mann, player development and scouting adviser with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They obviously weren’t all on hand specifically for Celebrini, but what they saw are the skills that many hockey fans will see on television when Canada opens the tournament against Finland on Dec 26. Unless your name is Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid or Connor Bedard, it’s been tough for 17-year-olds to crack this tournament roster over the years, but that didn’t stop Celebrini from joining that list.
Just use what he’s been doing at Boston University as proof.
Celebrini has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 15 games against some opponents who are seven or eight years his elder, much like some were on the U Sports team he faced this week. But there are far more layers to his game, as Pandolfo explained when asked to give a scouting report of the young phenom.
“He’s a pretty complete player for someone so young,” Pandolfo said. “He plays the game the right way. He’s a high-end offensive talent, but he plays just as hard on the defensive side of the puck.
“Another thing -- he never takes a shift off. He’s as competitive a player as you’ll find. He plays between the dots. He’s the furthest thing from a perimeter player.
“The other thing about him -- he lives for the big moments. The bigger the moment, the more of a difference-maker he wants to be. He prepares for them, whether it’s conditioning, watching video, however he can. And the fact he’s been around pro athletes with his dad, he’s seen what it takes to succeed.”
So has Canada coach Alan Letang.
“The puck seems to find him,” Letang said. “And he has lots of confidence with it. He makes great decisions with it.
“I’d heard a lot about him, but this is the first time I’d seen him (live). He comes as advertised.”
* * * * *
Canada is attempting to win the tournament for a third consecutive time, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since it won its fifth straight title in 2009.
Having said that, is it fair to put the spotlight on a 17-year-old, much in the way it was on Connor Bedard, subsequently selected with the No. 1 pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, during this year’s tournament?
“All I can say is, whenever I’ve seen the kid play, he always seems to be in control,” McCauley said. “He never seems to get flustered.”
Maybe not. But he was bordering on giddy when meeting with reporters Wednesday night after the roster had been announced, especially when he told them that Rick had been granted time off by the Warriors to go see his son play along with the rest of the family.
Celebrini said his favorite memory from World Juniors was the 2020 tournament when Alexis Lafreniere was named MVP after having 10 points (four goals, six assists) in five games, helping Canada win the gold medal.
Interestingly, Lafreniere was selected No. 1 by the New York Rangers in the 2020 NHL Draft. Four years later, Celebrini could go No. 1.
In the short term, this tournament will be the biggest stage he’s ever performed on. In Pandolfo’s opinion, he’s ready for it.
And then some.
“This kid is special,” Pandolfo said. “He’s prepared for this.
“I can’t predict what will happen over there or at the draft, but I’ll tell you this -- he’s going to be a captain of an NHL team not too far down the road.”
Heady praise for a teenager who has yet to be drafted.
