It's been quite the year for Celebrini. He's the second Sharks player to grace the cover of the video game following Owen Nolan in 2001, represented Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics and recently was named the International Ice Hockey Federation's Male Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season.
Celebrini led the Olympics with five goals and was second with 10 points in six games. He helped Canada to the silver medal and was named to the tournament's All-Star Team. He also played for Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in May, when he was captain and finished second among all scorers with 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 10 games.
The 20-year-old, who was the No. 1 pick by San Jose in the 2024 NHL Draft, was a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award presented annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL, as voted by the NHL Players' Association, after he finished fourth in the League and set a Sharks record with 115 points (45 goals, 70 assists) in 82 games last season. He had a point in 60 games, including at least three 18 times, and at least four points five times. Celebrini had 33 power-play points and five game-winning goals to help San Jose finish 39-35-8 with 86 points after it had 20 wins and 52 points in 2024-25.
Celebrini is one of the four nominees for Best NHL Player at the 2026 ESPY Awards, which will be held in New York City on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN). He's up against Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.
