SAN JOSE — Macklin Celebrini has been placed on injured reserve, meaning the 18-year-old centerman will have to miss at least the next three San Jose Sharks games, including tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Sharks, in a corresponding move, recalled defenseman Jack Thompson from their AHL affiliate, the Barracuda.
Players on IR must remain off the active roster for at least seven days, meaning Celebrini, the first overall pick in this year’s NHL draft, will also miss at least the first two games of the Sharks’ upcoming three-game road trip. Celebrini will have to sit out Tuesday’s game in Dallas and Thursday in Chicago. That game at the United Center would have been Celebrini’s first NHL against Blackhawks star Connor Bedard, the first overall pick in 2023.
Celebrini will next be eligible to play in the road trip finale on Friday in Winnipeg.
One night after making his NHL debut when he had a goal and an assist, Celebrini missed Friday’s practice with what Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky described as a lower-body injury.
Warsofsky said after Friday’s practice that Celebrini was being evaluated and could not say whether the center might have to miss the team’s second game of the regular season.
Warsofsky also wouldn’t confirm whether Celebrini’s lower-body injury is related to the one that kept him out for part of the preseason. In an Oct. 1 game against the Utah Hockey Club, Celebrini aggravated a lower-body injury, left midway through the second period, and didn’t play in the Sharks’ final two exhibition games.
Celebrini scored the first two points of his NHL career on Thursday before a raucous crowd as the Sharks built a three-goal lead over the St. Louis Blues in the second period. Celebrini scored the first goal of the Sharks’ season at the 7:01 mark of the third period and later assisted on a goal by Tyler Toffoli. The Sharks, though, allowed three goals in the third period and lost 5-4 to the Blues in overtime.
In Friday’s practice, Mikael Granlund took Celebrini’s spot as the Sharks’ top-line center with Toffoli and William Eklund on the wings.
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