EDMONTON — Macklin Celebrini will be against Connor McDavid on Thursday when the San Jose Sharks visit the Edmonton Oilers, but they will soon be teammates.

A big conglomeration of reporters fronted Celebrini before Thursday’s game, and he was asked plenty about his future Canadian Olympic teammate.

“Tonight, I hope he doesn’t do anything, and in a week, I hope he does a lot,” Celebrini said. “No, just it’ll be fun to obviously play with him, but we still have four games left that we need to focus on.”

Celebrini is fourth in the NHL in scoring compared to McDavid in first. Despite the offensive disparity, both players will be competing in their first Olympic Games. Celebrini, 19, made history as the youngest player to make a Canadian Olympic Hockey team. McDavid, 29, got a taste of best on best hockey at the Four Nations Face-Off.

“It’s exciting. It’s something that we’ve probably all been thinking about ever since. I mean, for me, when I got announced to the roster, [it was] just super exciting,” Celebrini said. “Super cool. Just getting this opportunity to represent Canada at the Olympics. I mean, it’s a huge honor, and something I don’t take for granted.”

The San Jose Sharks franchise center has gotten to be around the NHL’s best player on a brief occasion. When Celebrini was invited to the Canadian Orientation camp, Celebrini was able to skate with the Oilers superstar.

“It’s been great, super nice,” Celebrini said. “It’s been brief, but super nice.”

Now, Celebrini will have the challenging task of helping his Sharks team to an important victory over a divisional opponent. The San Jose Sharks are just five points back of the Oilers, who are in second place in the Pacific Division. Winning tonight’s game and staying in a playoff spot is the most important thing to the Sharks center.

“It’s great. Obviously, they have a great team over there and some special players. I think we’re all excited for the challenge today,” Celebrini said. “Just the way [McDavid] plays the game, it’s special. The way skates. I mean, every time he’s on the ice, he makes special things happen. You don’t need to hear from me; you just need to watch him.”

The San Jose Sharks will roll the same lineup as their previous game, a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Yaroslav Askarov will start for the second consecutive game.