The next generation of Canadian superstars has arrived.

As Hockey Canada continues to scout potential players for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, Macklin Celebrini and Connor Bedard have placed themselves firmly in the conversation to be a part of Canada’s forward corps when the tournament starts on Feb. 11.

Both young centres netted a hat trick on Tuesday night and have vaulted into the top five in NHL scoring.

San Jose Sharks centre Celebrini, the first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is second among all skaters with 13 goals and 30 points, trailing only Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in both categories. The 19-year-old became the third teenager in NHL history to record 30 points in his team’s first 20 games, joining Wayne Gretzky (1980-81) and Sidney Crosby (2006-07).

The North Vancouver, B.C., native provided all the scoring for the Sharks last night and capped his historic hat trick with the overtime winner to beat the Utah Mammoth.

“Special. He’s special,” said defenceman Vincent Desharnais, who has played with Crosby and Connor McDavid during his career. “I think everyone in here, everyone in this building, sees how special he is as a player, as a human being as well.”

Celebrini has led the Sharks to nine wins in their past 14 games as the club looks to emerge from a long rebuild with the Canadian as its centrepiece.

Not to be outdone, Bedard had his own hat trick on Tuesday to lead his Chicago Blackhawks over the Calgary Flames.

Bedard, also from North Vancouver, is on a career-best pace with 13 goals and 29 points in 19 games and trails only MacKinnon, Celebrini, and McDavid on the NHL leaderboard.

Bedard’s breakout comes in his third NHL season after being selected first overall by Chicago in the 2023 NHL Draft. While he led the Blackhawks in scoring in each of his first two seasons, the club continued to sit at the bottom of the NHL standings, finishing last in the Central Division both years. Chicago has gotten off to a much faster start this season and sit fourth in the Division with a 10-5-4 record.

TSN’s Frankie Corrado believes both players have made a strong case for Canada’s Olympic team but says Celebrini has the inside edge thanks to a more well-rounded game.

“Celebrini would be the guy who had the inside edge. He really established himself as someone who had pretty elite defensive acumen for such a young player. He’s good at a lot of things. That was giving him the inside track as opposed to Bedard, who was shooting the lights out, but it may have been more challenging to find him a regular role,” Corrado said Wednesday on TSN radio.

[Bedard] is the hottest player in the NHL. His game has evolved; it’s not like he’s just on a heater. He’s much better. He looks like a guy that can play up and down your lineup. I think if he’s not on the team, it’ll come down to the fact that they couldn’t find a defined role for him. But it also tells me that there’s nothing he could’ve done to make this team.”

Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong must submit the 25-man roster on Dec. 31 and said in an interview on Nov. 10 that the list of potential players has been shortened to a number in the high 30s or low 40s.

“You just look at the way they’re playing right now,” Armstrong said of Bedard and Celebrini’s early-season play. “They’ve got our attention. But more importantly, they’ve got other participants on Team Canada’s attention, the coach’s attention and hockey in general’s attention, which is great not only for Team Canada. It’s great for the game.”

The two young superstars will continue to make a case for their Olympic inclusion on Thursday with Bedard and the Blackhawks battling the Seattle Kraken, while Celebrini and the Sharks will host the Los Angeles Kings.