SAN JOSE – The Olympic dreams of San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini will reportedly be coming true.
After an electrifying first half of the season, Celebrini has made the Canadian team’s roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, according to ESPN.
The 12 countries participating in the Olympic men’s tournament, which begins in February, have to submit their 25-man rosters by Wednesday. The Canadian team, which will feature many of the NHL’s best players, will be formally announced on Wednesday at 9 a.m. (PST).
Per ESPN, players named to the Canadian and American teams will be informed by their respective federations on Wednesday morning.
The 19-year-old Celebrini, who is expected to be the youngest player on the Canadian team, entered Tuesday as the NHL’s third-leading scorer with 60 points in 39 games, trailing only Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (69) and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (66).
Celebrini said earlier this month that it would “mean everything” to represent Canada at the Olympics.
“As a kid watching the Olympics, watching World Juniors, seeing the Canadian Maple Leaf, that’s always the biggest honor,” Celebrini said. “It’d be a dream come true.”
With 21 goals and 39 assists, Celebrini has been involved in exactly half of the Sharks’ 120 goals this season, as he’s led San Jose to a 19-17-3 record after the team had the NHL’s worst mark at 20-50-12 last year.
Still, as if he were leaving nothing to chance, Celebrini’s production has actually increased in the weeks leading up to the Canadian team’s announcement. Celebrini had 37 points in 26 games through October and November, but in 13 games so far this month, he has seven goals and 16 assists.
“He’s a very, very, very focused kid and wants to get better each and every day,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Celebrini on Tuesday. “So I’d be pretty surprised if he’s not on that roster.”
Celebrini, a native of North Vancouver, British Columbia, and a former player with the Jr. Sharks, had his NHL-leading 10th three-point game of the season on Monday as the Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4.
In NHL history, only Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, needed fewer games to reach 60 points as a teenager than Celebrini. Crosby needed 35 games in 2006-07, and Gretzky reached 60 points in 37 games with the Oilers in 1980-81.
Celebrini has an eight-game point streak for the Sharks going into their home game on Wednesday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild.
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