LAS VEGAS — After seeing their son, Macklin, be selected first overall by the San Jose Sharks on Friday at the NHL Draft, the Celebrini family planned to stay in town and leave Sunday morning.
Macklin, to his credit, wanted to see some of his friends from Boston University and elsewhere get selected by NHL teams on Saturday.
Those plans changed. The Celebrini family is now leaving Las Vegas late Saturday afternoon because Macklin, according to his dad, Rick Celebrini, “wants to be on the ice on Sunday (in San Jose) and get a workout in before development camps starts on Monday.”
“So he’s back to work. He’ll probably get a workout (Saturday) as well.”
That type of dedication and work ethic doesn’t surprise Sharks general manager Mike Grier. After all, the Celebrini family generally goes by the motto, ‘What did you do to get better today?”
“He’s a driven kid. He wants to be the best,” Grier said Friday night. “Whatever sport you’re around, myself growing up in football, playing in the (NHL) and being around the league, the great players are driven. They want to learn all the time. They want to work on their game all the time, and Macklin’s definitely in that mold.”
Rick Celebrini said the family was scheduled to fly out of Vegas on Sunday morning. They’re now leaving tomorrow afternoon, “because (Mack) wants to be on the ice on Sunday and get a workout in before development camp starts on Monday.”
Sharks fans, you got a real one.
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) June 29, 2024
Sometime after development camp is over, Macklin Celebrini will have to decide whether to turn pro and start his Sharks career or return to Boston University for his sophomore season.
Macklin said there is no timeline for that decision or for when he might sit down with Grier, his dad, and his advisors to decide the next step.
There is no question Rick Celebrini wants to see Macklin have the best chance to succeed if he turns pro immediately. That means surrounding him with the right type of players to help his adjustment to pro hockey – on and off the ice.
The Sharks’ leadership group includes captain Logan Couture and fellow veterans Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin, and Mario Ferraro. This offseason, the Sharks also acquired forwards Barclay Goodrow, Ty Dellandrea, and Carl Grundstrom to help them become a harder team to play against after finishing last season with the worst record in the NHL at 19-54-9.
“Knowing the leaders within the Sharks organization, I know they’re thinking along the same lines,” Rick Celebrini said. “I think it has to be a win-win, and what’s best for the Sharks is going to ultimately be the best for Macklin, and that’s just to make sure that it’s the right environment for him to succeed, for the young players to succeed.
“Whether that means that there’s some experienced players around that can buffer them and support them and guide them and teach them and that there’s other things in place that allow for that.
“At the end of the day, it’s a big jump. It’s a big jump for anybody, and as I’ve said before, the NHL is not a development league. You’re either ready, or you’re not. So it’s just getting to that point where everyone feels comfortable and confident that this is the right moment, this point in time, for Mack to make the transition.”
If Macklin does turn pro, he could also live with a veteran player to help ease his transition into the NHL. Rick Celebrini and Grier are on board with this if Macklin becomes a Shark and is with the team this season.
Grier said something like that could also play out with 19-year-old Will Smith.
“They’re young kids, and they’re going to have a lot on their shoulders, trying to figure out life in the NHL,” Grier said. “So instead of going home and trying to cook your own meals all the time, sometimes it would help to have a place to go where you can relax and unwind and have some normalcy, and maybe some of that normalcy is having a family around and some kids to play knee hockey with, or jump on the trampoline or jump in the pool.
“I think a lot of that stuff can go a long way to people’s mental health and getting away from the game. because it’s tough. These guys are going to find out it’s a tough League. The schedule is tough, especially where we are with all our travel. So, I would say it’s probably it’s a possibility that these guys end up living with someone at some point.”