Celebrini, at 20, named youngest captain in Sharks history

Macklin Celebrini has had quite an offseason.

The 20-year-old was named captain of the San Jose Sharks on Friday, less than two months after signing a five-year, $94 million contract (average annual value of $18.8 million).

He became the youngest captain in Sharks history and their first captain since Logan Couture announced his retirement April 15, 2025.

"I still have a lot of space to grow, I think, in my game and off the ice," Celebrini said Aug. 27. "Growing into myself as hopefully a leader for this team. We have a great group of vets that have been amazing and helped guide all of us young guys and gave us the best kind of role models as possible."

It has been a whirlwind year for Celebrini, who also played for Team Canada at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, where he had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in six games.

He was then named Canada's captain for the 2026 IIHF World Hockey Championship in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland, in May, and had 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 10 games. Canada finished fourth, losing the bronze-medal game 3-2 in overtime to Norway.

Celebrini finished fourth in the NHL in scoring last season, his second in the League, with 115 points (45 goals, 70 assists) in 82 games. He has 178 points (70 goals, 108 assists) in 152 regular-season games over two NHL.

In July, Celebrini was also named the IIHF Male Player of the Year and was revealed as the cover athlete on EA Sports NHL 27.

His new contract was then an NHL-record AAV until Cale Makar signed an eight-year, $163.2 million deal ($20.4 million AAV) with the Colorado Avalanche on Aug. 28.

"We wanted to make sure 'Mack' felt valued here and he was compensated fairly," Sharks general manager Mike Grier said after the signing. "No disrespect to anyone, in our eyes he's the best young player in the League. We felt like we wanted to pay him an amount that was commensurate with that. On his side, he was willing to take a little bit less to leave us some flexibility so we can keep building out the roster as we go along."

Celebrini was an alternate captain last season for San Jose, which looks to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season for the first time since 2018-19.

"I don't think he's someone I'm worried about the money and the payday changing who he is," Grier said. "He's kind of built and wired the way he is and that's to be great. I think those players like that, that's just how they're wired and they're going to keep working and pushing themselves to be the best version of themselves that they can.

"He's got an unbelievable drive and desire to be the best and I don't expect that to change."

San Jose hosts the Florida Panthers in its season opener on Oct. 1

Five NHL teams are without a captain: the Boston Bruins, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks.

NHL.com independent correspondent Max Miller contributed to this report