Macklin Celebrini is about to enter his third NHL season, and he will do so with another major award on his resume.
The San Jose Sharks center had already turned his second professional season into a franchise-shifting year, with the team finishing a season with a points percentage figure (.524) higher than .500 for the first time since 2019.
On a personal level, Celebrini finished fourth in NHL scoring with 115 points, including 45 goals and 70 assists, while appearing in all 82 games and averaging 21:19 time on ice.
Celebrini's 115 points marked the third-highest point total ever by a teenager, behind only Wayne Gretzky’s 137 points in 1979-80 and Sidney Crosby’s 120 points in 2006-07.
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Not only did Celebrini excel in the NHL, but he also carried that production into international play, representing Canada at the 2026 Olympics and then at the IIHF World Championship in May.
At the Olympics, Celebrini led the tournament with five goals and finished second in scoring with 10 points as Canada won silver, and he was named to the tournament All-Star Team.
That performance made Celebrini the captain of Canada at the World Championship, where he finished second in scoring and was named to the All-Star Team.
On Thursday, the IIHF announced that Celebrini has been voted its Male Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season, with voting open to nearly 200 media members and members of the IIHF family.
Celebrini received 40.8% of the vote. Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck finished second at 20.4%, followed by Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho at 14.3% and Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid at 12.2%.
Celebrini joins Connor Bedard, Roman Cervenka and Sven Andrighetto as winners of the award.
Regarding what comes next for Celebrini, it's fair to assume he'd like to push the Sharks into the playoffs during his third and final season under contract in San Jose.
“Looking at what we have and what we’re building, I think we should all be excited for things to come,” Celebrini said during the team's exit interviews. “I’m just open to every possibility (about his long-term future with the Sharks). There’s nothing really that goes into it. It goes hand in hand with me. I want to commit to this team and being here, and I love it here. I’m just open to whatever happens.”
