Celebrini earned way onto Team Canada for Olympics, GM says

TORONTO -- Macklin Celebrini’s road to Milan began in the bowels of Enterprise Center, home of the St. Louis Blues, on Nov. 21, 2024.

Only 18 at the time, the rookie forward was about to play his 10th NHL game after being selected No. 1 by the San Jose Sharks in the 2024 NHL Draft five months earlier.

As he prepared for the game, he received a visit from Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, the man in charge of Canada’s entries in the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

“I introduced myself and said, ‘You’re not likely on the radar for the 4 Nations, but the Olympics are coming up and we’re going to watch you,’” Armstrong said he told Celebrini.

Celebrini had a pair of assists that night. And Armstrong and the Team Canada brass have been watching ever since.

To say they’ve liked what they’ve seen would be an understatement.

Indeed, on Wednesday, 405 days after his inaugural visit with Armstrong, Celebrini was officially named to the Team Canada roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics. He was one of six players who was not on the 4 Nations championship Canadian team to be named to the Olympic roster, joining fellow forwards Bo Horvat of the New York Islanders, Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals, Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, and goalies Logan Thompson of the Capitals and Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings.

Team Canada’s brass definitely opted to keep the core intact of the 4 Nations team that defeated the U.S. 3-2 in the title game on Connor McDavid’s overtime goal back in February. Nineteen players from that roster were named Wednesday including 10 forwards, all eight defensemen, and goalie Jordan Binnington of the Blues.

It's a tough roster to crack. That’s why, on a day fellow young guns like forward Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks and defenseman Matthew Schaefer of the Islanders did not make the cut, along with more established players such as Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele, and 4 Nations members Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers and Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes, Celebrini’s inclusion was the big story.

The Bedard, Scheifele and Bennett omissions will be the biggest topics of debate in the days ahead. Celebrini's naming certainly won't be, especially after he made a strong impression playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Championships this past spring.

“Since (our first meeting), he’s really taken off,” Armstrong said of Celebrini. “He’s gone to the Worlds, he fit in well socially with the top players in the game, and his product on the ice speaks for itself. So he worked his way on.

“His resume is shorter, but it’s extremely filled for his age.”

It’s a remarkable accomplishment for a teenager who won’t turn 20 until June 13.

But not altogether a surprising one for a sophomore phenom who put himself, to use Amstrong’s word, on Team Canada’s Olympic “radar” and made sure to prominently stay there.

Consider some of his eye-popping numbers, none more impressive than the 123 points (46 goals, 77 assists) he racked up in his first 109 NHL contests entering play Wednesday. In the process, he tied Sidney Crosby for the most points ever by a teenager before Christmas with 55 this season, four better than the legendary Wayne Gretzky.

It was that production, and the flair and poise in which he did it, that helped win Armstrong and his staff over by early December.

“He was one of our 12 that had done enough (at that time) to make us comfortable that he was someone we wanted to present to the coach (Jon Cooper) as one of our 12 core players, or 12 players that we had all agreed upon,” Armstrong said.

Celebrini’s cause was helped by the way he meshed with Canadian stars Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche at the Worlds, a tournament in which he had six points (three goals, three assists) in eight games and was an impressive plus-9. He then travelled to Nova Scotia to train with MacKinnon and Crosby a couple of months later.

Having seen firsthand how Celebrini conducts himself on and off the ice, MacKinnon pretty much expected him to make the Olympic roster.

“I think it’s obvious,” MacKinnon said Wednesday after the Team Canada reveal. “How could you not take him?

“He was at Worlds. Got to see him up close there. He’s an amazing player, and it’s exciting to have a guy like that on the team.”

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said the influence of MacKinnon and Crosby helped him get to this point.

“I think he learns from those guys,” Warsofsky said of Crosby and MacKinnon. “And, you know, training with them, playing at World Championships, that's valuable experience. He's a very driven kid, so I think, you know, being around those guys, he fits in really well.”

Including not being overwhelmed by the moment, not to mention the huge stage he’ll be on in Italy.

“Mac is pretty mature for his age,” Warsofsky said.

Asked perhaps what might have put Celebrini ahead of other candidates for Team Canada, Warsofsky replied, “I think the way he plays a 200-foot game, you know, the way he defends, the way he competes for pucks, how physically he is, I think that's what probably set him apart.”

Heading into Wednesday, there was plenty of speculation if Celebrini and Bedard would each be on the team. Bedard was third in the NHL with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) in 31 games before sustaining an upper-body injury Dec. 12 that has him listed as week to week.

Armstrong said the injury really didn’t affect the 20-year-old’s chances.

“Quite honestly his name was there to the last second,” Armstrong said of Bedard, adding that Scheifele fell into that category as well. “But I think the reality is, there’s so many good players, and we just had difficult decisions to make.”

Including one involving Schaefer, a consideration Armstrong never envisioned at the start of the season.

“I was shocked at how quickly he worked his way into our conversations and that’s a credit to him,” Armstrong said of the 18-year-old defenseman who was selected No. 1 by the Islanders in the 2025 NHL Draft. “The Islanders and hockey are very lucky to have a player like him coming on the horizon.”

While on the subject of the Islanders, the fact that Horvat was selected over Jarvis could be an offshoot of the upper-body injury the Hurricanes forward suffered against the Panthers Dec. 19. Jarvis, who had an assist in three games for Canada at 4 Nations, was second in goals for Carolina with 19 at the time of the injury and is considered week to week.

The naming of Horvat immediately raised some eyebrows but Armstrong cited his face-off skills, and his chemistry playing on MacKinnon’s wing at the 2025 Worlds, as two keys to his selection.

In the end, the biggest surprise might be Bennett’s exclusion. The 29-year-old scored Canada’s second goal that forced overtime in the 4 Nations championship game, then had 22 points (15 goals, seven assists) in 23 postseason games to help the Panthers win their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

At first blush it appears Bennett’s physical role has been taken by the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Wilson, whose blue-collar work in the corners and in front of the opposing net made him a coveted target for Team Canada officials dating back to the summer.

“It was a tough process,” Armstrong said. “But in the end we put together the best team we feel has the potential for success.”