Celebrini Delivers as Canada’s Captain

Already coming off of an impressive NHL season with the Sharks, Macklin Celebrini’s performance at the IIHF World Championships showcased exactly what makes him Captain Canada and more.

The Tourney

In the preliminary round, Team Canada beat Norway 6-5, where Celebrini logged two assists, including on Mark Scheifele’s game-winning goal. In the next game, a 3-1 victory over Slovenia, Celebrini was quieter on the scoresheet but still made his presence felt. He won 11 faceoffs in this matchup, more than any player from either team.

Celebrini opened the scoring for Team Canada in the quarterfinals against the United States, with Scheifele and Denton Mateychuk assisting. Team Canada earned a shutout 4-0 victory.

Canada’s semifinal matchup against Finland had Celebrini playing alongside former Shark Dylan Demelo to pick up assists in Dylan Holloway’s opening goal. Finland prevailed with a 4-2 tally, and former Shark Mikael Granlund logged two assists to help them get there.

In the bronze medal game, Celebrini’s helper with Ryan O’Reilly sparked a comeback for Thomas Robert’s tying goal before Norway’s 3-2 upset victory in overtime.

Captain Canada

Named best forward, Celebrini finished the tourney as the second leader in points, behind only Sven Andrighetto from the Swiss team (15). Celebrini’s elite performance includes six goals and eight assists for 14 points, while registering a +13 plus-minus.

The Sharks superstar didn’t just fill the scoresheet, he also dominated the shot chart, leading his team with 47 shots on goal. Canada’s trust in the 19-year-old was on display, as Celebrini shouldered the workload of 196:54 TOI across 10 games, more than 10 minutes ahead of the next-closest player, Darnell Nurse.

When you combine 14 points, a tourney-leading 47 SOG, and a captaincy that remained even after Sidney Crosby joined Team Canada, it’s hard not to see the profile of a franchise center.

Outside of raw production, Celebrini showed a level of maturity and confidence that were just as engaging. The International Ice Hockey Federation gave Celebrini the honor of Media All-Star, an award voted on by media covering the tourney’s top performers.

Though Celebrini has yet to win gold with Canada, at just 19 years old (20 on June 13), there’s plenty of reason to believe he’ll have another shot at it.

Celebrini’s showing in this tourney is the kind of effort that turns “the future is teal” into the present. It’s finally getting to the point where the Sharks don’t have to imagine what their franchise center looks like anymore because they are watching him in real time.