The San Jose Sharks have signed superstar prospect Macklin Celebrini to a standard entry-level contract. Per PuckPedia, the deal is worth $2.925 million over 3 years, with an average annual value of $925,000. There’s also $3.5 million per year in performance bonuses. The move means that Celebrini, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft, will leave Boston University to go professional in the 2024-25 season, and will almost certainly begin his NHL career with the Sharks in October.
Sharks General Manager Mike Grier issued the following statement regarding Celebrini and his signing.
“Macklin is not only a special player on the ice, but he is a poised, confident and intelligent young man off of it,” said Grier. “His combination of skills and hockey sense is rare, and we are extremely confident that he is ready to make the transition to being a full time NHL player. We could not be more excited to have Macklin locked in to formally join the Sharks organization for the 2024-25 season.”
Celebrini’s decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise. First-overall picks rarely go back to juniors or college hockey; in fact, the last player to do so was Erik Johnson in 2006. While the center had remained coy about his plans up until this point, most of the chatter around the league seemed to point towards him signing, and Grier and Boston University head coach Jay Pandolfo both said that they felt he was NHL-ready.
Celebrini was the leading player in collegiate hockey last season, becoming just the fourth freshman in NCAA history to win the Hobey Baker award. With 32 goals and 64 points in just 38 games last year, it was clear that the two-way phenom had little to gain by staying in a collegiate environment. The only question was whether jumping straight to the NHL would be the best thing for his development, given the horrific record that the Sharks had last year.
That question was answered when the Sharks signed Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg on the opening day of free-agency, immediately improving the team and putting more NHL-calibre talent on a roster that had an extreme paucity of it last season. This was likely the last thing needed to convince Celebrini and his family that a direct jump to the NHL would be the best move for his development.
Celebrini is extremely likely to begin the season on the Sharks, along with fellow college superstar Will Smith. His arrival has already spiked ticket demand to levels not seen for almost a decade, and the excitement surrounding him and Smith virtually guarantees that the Sharks will attract far more attention next year.
