You can count Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr among the many fans and admirers of the emerging players. San Jose Sharks star center Macklin Celebrini.
Celebrini, who is set to make her Winter Olympics debut with Team Canada later this week, exploded onto the scene as a Hart Trophy contender in his second NHL season.
His father Rick is a longtime member of the Warriors staff and currently serves as vice president of player health and performance.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Kerr said of the emergence of Celebrini and inclusion in Team Canada. “I can’t wait to see him play in the Olympics, and Rick is going down there with his family to watch him, which is really exciting. I am. I watch the box scores every day, and they’re really having a great season. It’s so much fun to see Mack doing so well, especially in the context of all this. He hung out here as a kid, he was about 14, and now all of a sudden he’s in the MVP race in the NHL… It’s always fun to see Rick and I tell him about the games.
Steve Kerr is a confirmed HEAD of Macklin Celebrini. 🦈 “I watch the scores every day…he was hanging out here when he was 14 and now all of a sudden he’s in the running for NHL MVP.”
Part of Celebrini’s childhood was spending time with the Warriors, and now, with the way the NHL draft lottery shook out in 2024, he’s back in the Northern California Bay Area, helping bring the Sharks back to prominence as his father and the Warriors look to expand the window of contention built around Stephen Curry.
In his second NHL season, Celebrini has 81 points in 55 games as he has led the Sharks from the NHL basement to the playoffs, with San Jose owning a 27-24-4 record at Olympic break and is just two points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Now, Celebrini skates alongside another first overall pick and three-time Hart Trophy winner, Connor McDavid, on Team Canada’s top line in practices leading up to the competitive match in Milan.
Team Canada is part of Group A of the tournament with Czechia, Switzerland and France. Canada’s schedule for the group stage is as follows:
- Thursday, February 12 – Czechia vs. Canada, 10:40 a.m. EST
- Friday, February 13 – Canada vs. Switzerland, 3:10 p.m. EST
- Sunday, February 15 – Canada vs. France, 10:40 a.m. EST
