Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
“Every time we think we have a ceiling,” Ryan Warsofsky said about Macklin Celebrini, “we keep pushing the ceiling up.”
That’s been a constant of Celebrini’s career, from USHL to NCAA to NHL.
With the Chicago Steel, Macklin Celebrini scored 86 points in 2022-23, the most-ever for a 16-year-old in the USHL, winning Player and Rookie of the Year.
At Boston University, the 17-year-old became the youngest-ever to win the Hobey Baker Award for top NCAA player.
With the San Jose Sharks, the 19-year-old just broke Joe Thornton’s single-season franchise record for points.
A goal and two assists in a 6-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets gave Celebrini 115 points, eclipsing Thornton’s 114 in 2006-07.
Celebrini is also challenging for the Hart Trophy because of stats like this: He had a hand in 46.2 percent of his team’s 249 goals, second only to Connor McDavid’s 48.9 percent for the Edmonton Oilers.
His 115 points is almost double Will Smith’s 59, the largest gap between No. 1 and No. 2 scorer on an NHL team this season.
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