With the first overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, Grier and Morehouse selected Celebrini.
“(Macklin) is a great kid, a really good personality,” said Grier. “When you sit down with him for two minutes, you feel his drive and his competitiveness. It seeps out of him. That's what you notice most. He's a driven kid. He's an alpha. All the things you expect and have experienced from other number one picks, he has all that. The belief in himself and the will and the want to get better and work on his craft, he's an impressive kid.”
Celebrini, 18, played in 38 games for Boston University this past season, recording 64 points (32 goals, 32 assists). He finished the campaign ranked second nationally in goals, third in points, and tops in both categories among undrafted NCAA skaters, helping the Terriers reach the Frozen Four. His point total was the sixth-highest single-season output in the NCAA in the past 10 seasons. At 17 years old, he became the youngest player ever to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, awarded annually to the best player in college hockey. He was the fourth-ever freshman to win college hockey’s top individual honor and has become the first-ever Hobey Baker winner to be selected first overall in the NHL Draft. He also won the Tim Taylor Award, awarded annually to the best rookie in the NCAA, was named Hockey East Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, earned spots on the conference’s First All-Star Team and All-Rookie Team, and was selected to the AHCA East First All-America Team.
In 2022-23, Celebrini skated with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League (USHL) where he collected 86 points (46 goals, 40 assists) in 50 games played, leading the USHL in scoring as the only skater to reach the 80-point mark on the year. He was named USHL Player of the Year, Forward of the Year and Rookie of the Year, and he earned a spot on the league First All-Star Team and All-Rookie Team.
In international play, Celebrini represented Canada at the 2024 World Junior Championship and led the team with eight points (four goals, four assists) in five games en route to being named a Top Three Player on the squad. He collected 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in seven games at the 2023 U-18 World Junior Championship, helping Canada earn a Bronze Medal after tallying points in each of the final six games at the tournament, three (two goals, one assist) in the Bronze Medal Game.
The six-foot, 197-pound native of Vancouver, British Columbia competed for the San Jose Jr. Sharks in 2019-20, totaling 101 points (54 goals, 47 assists) in 61 games. He is the fourth-ever former Jr. Shark to become part of the San Jose Sharks organization, joining former defenseman Matt Tennyson, forward prospect Reese Laubach and goaltender Devin Cooley.
He can become the fifth-ever first-overall pick to play for the Sharks, the first four including Joe Thornton (selected by Boston in 1997), Owen Nolan (selected by Quebec in 1990), Joe Murphy (selected by Detroit in 1986) and Brian Lawton (selected by Minnesota in 1983).
