The San Jose Sharks officially named Macklin
Celebrini as the team’s captain at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Celebrini enters his third season with the Sharks and becomes the 12th captain
in franchise history. At 20 years old, he becomes the youngest captain in team
history.
Celebrini becomes the 6th youngest captain in NHL history
behind Connor McDavid, Gabriel Landeskog, Sidney Crosby, Vincent Lecavalier and
Jonathan Toews.
Celebrini joins Doug Wilson (1991-1993), Bob Errey
(199301995), Jeff Odgers (1995-1996), Todd Gill (1996-1998), Owen Nolan
(1998-2003), Patrick Marleau (2004-2009), Rob Blake (2009-2010), Joe Thornton
(2010-2014), Joe Pavelski (2015-2019) and Logan Couture (2019-2025) as players
who have donned the C in San Jose.
Couture served as the last Shark to don the C,
but his untmely injury that has forced him to retire left the Sharks in limbo
the last 18 months. Celebrini's emergence in his first two seasons made it
apparent that he would eventually be named to the role, but Sharks GM Mike
Grier was calculated in not rushing things.
San Jose used assistant
captains the last two seasons as they waited for the right timing to elevate
Celebrini. After his 2025-26 season which saw a new team record in scoring be
established and a Silver Medal performance in the Olympics, there was little
reason to wait any longer.
Now the comes the hard part. While many see
the role as ceremonial, there is significant pressure that comes with the
obligation. Many feel that San Jose was too hasty to name Patrick Marleau
captain back in 2004. That situation ended with the C being stripped from
Marleau in 2009 after he struggled. San Jose gave teh job to Rob Blake, a more
established veteran in an attempt to redirect some of the pressure that goes
with the job.
Celebrini must now carry that weight.
If the
Sharks falter, people will look to him. That's not something the Sharks will
want to have focused on their young superstar. They obviously feel that his
development and maturity are at the point where he can deal with the added
pressure, but only time will tell if it will hinder his prgression.
The
only thing that will dispel the naysayers is winning, and San Jose has
positioned itself with loads of young talent. Now Celebrini gets to show
everyone what he can do. Celebrini will debut his new sweater in Las Vegas on
Saturday night when San Jose wraps up their preseason shcedule with a game
against the Golden Knights.
