Young Toronto Maple Leafs star Gavin McKenna could soon follow in the footsteps of San Jose Sharks star Macklin Celebrini.
Celebrini is on the verge of entering his third season in the NHL and is already one of the top players at the age of 20. The former No. 1 overall pick recently inked a deal that will pay him $18.8 million per season, making him the highest-paid player in the league before he has even reached legal drinking age in the United States.
The young Sharks star is coming off of a 115-point season, ranking fourth in the NHL in total points.
Meanwhile, McKenna is supposed to be the next great offensive phenom, having been selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the Leafs this year. The 18-year-old racked up 88 assists and 129 points while notching a point in a record 54 consecutive games during the 2024-25 season with the WHL Medicine Hat Tigers.
As McKenna prepares to begin his first season in Toronto, he revealed that he worked out over the summer with Celebrini in Vancouver and a number of other NHL stars.
“I was training with Mac and doing what he was doing, and he was a pretty intense guy when it comes to his off-ice and on-ice stuff,” McKenna said while speaking to David Alter of The Hockey News. “So, to kind of be in that environment and just get in a routine, it felt good. I had a lot of fun, and I feel like I got better.”
Gavin McKenna on Macklin Celebrini: ‘Mac is Crazy’
McKenna goes into detail about the intense training sessions, saying he was on the ice for “17 hours.” He said Celebrini is “crazy.”
“My trainers probably won’t like to hear this, but there was a week where we were on the ice for like 17 hours…Mac is crazy,” said McKenna. “But every skate out there, you’re getting better and it’s a competitive group, so I had a lot of fun with it.”
Gavin McKenna Draws Comparisons to Macklin Celebrini
McKenna has been compared to Celebrini — former NHL veteran Brooks Laich has made the comparison — due to their similar smallish frames (both are under 195 pounds) and the fact that they shoot left. It’s also due to the fact that both are arguably the most talented offensive players in the league despite the fact that they’re each under 21 years old.
There will be high expectations for McKenna as he enters his first season in the hockey capital of Toronto. He’ll have a major luxury in the fact that he’ll have a supremely talented supporting cast in Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and new goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Celebrini faced a tougher start to his career for a team that hasn’t made it to the playoffs since the 2018-19 season.
McKenna admitted it was nice just to get to know Celebrini on a personal level and get away from the grind before the season starts.
“I think we just try to be normal people with each other,” said McKenna. “Sometimes, when you’re grinding and stuff, you kind of want to step away from the game and just be normal people and just talk…He was awesome to be around. I think I learned a lot from how hard he works and to where I kind of got to get. I think it’s all been good for me.”
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