{"id":397659,"date":"2026-01-08T14:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/397659\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T14:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:43:11","slug":"macklin-celebrini-refuses-to-lose-and-it-could-make-him-the-nhls-mvp-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/397659\/","title":{"rendered":"Macklin Celebrini refuses to lose, and it could make him the NHL\u2019s MVP"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a good thing that Macklin Celebrini is a spectacular, precocious, game-changing<\/a>, franchise-changing<\/a>, league-changing<\/a> hockey player.<\/p>\n

Because, boy, the kid is a boring quote.<\/p>\n

Ask him about his goal that defied the laws of physics, and he\u2019ll give you a shrug.<\/p>\n

Ask him about single-handedly dragging a franchise out of the cellar and into a playoff race, and he\u2019ll mutter something about \u201cthe group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much. Tried to make a play,\u201d Celebrini said Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

That was his description of his game-tying goal against the Los Angeles Kings. You know, the one where he turned into some sort of demigod with the goalie pulled, weaving through traffic like a motorcycle splitting lanes on 101, before snapping a shot that would make Mike Bossy jealous.<\/p>\n

It was a highlight-reel goal that would be the career peak for 99 percent of the NHL. For Celebrini? It might not even crack his top five from this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it worked out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

That was his analysis of his overtime winning assist \u2014 a sequence where he stripped the puck, passed it to himself off the boards, because the linesman was in the way, corralled the puck from the linesman\u2019s feet, created a 2-on-1 out of thin air, and feathered a perfect pass to William Eklund to undress Vezina candidate Darcy Kuemper.<\/p>\n

Boring quotes. Preposterously electric hockey.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the trade-off, San Jose will take it every single day of the week and twice on Sundays.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Jose Sharks center MacKlin Celebrini, right, celebrates his goal with left wing Pavol Regenda during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because what we saw in that 4-3 overtime win over the Kings wasn\u2019t just a nice comeback. It was yet another declaration that the Sharks are a force to be reckoned with.<\/p>\n

They are a contender. Today. Right now.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019re not going away so long as 71 \u2014 with all 19 of his revolutions around the sun \u2014 is wearing teal and black.<\/p>\n

The Sharks didn\u2019t play poorly on Wednesday. In fact, they played well. But with 2:10 left on the clock, trailing 3-2 to a division rival, \u201cplaying well\u201d had them in a bind.<\/p>\n

Then, Celebrini, as he has done more than a handful of times this season, decided the Sharks weren\u2019t losing.<\/p>\n

It is a rare thing in sports\u00a0to see a player who can simply decide to alter the outcome of a game through sheer force of will. Only the greatest of the greats can do it.<\/p>\n

We are seeing a teenager do it for the Sharks.<\/p>\n

The kid is on a 12-game point streak. He is third in the NHL in points. He has San Jose one point behind the Pacific Division lead.<\/p>\n

Most impressive, however, isn\u2019t the stat line. It\u2019s the timing. It\u2019s his uncanny ability to step up when the air gets thin.<\/p>\n

There is a distinct difference between accumulating points and winning games. Celebrini is doing both, and it\u2019s the latter aspect that cannot be overlooked or overly praised.<\/p>\n

And because he is pulling the Sharks to wins \u2014 overpassing the growing pains this team is supposed to be having right now \u2014 he has instilled a belief in this roster and fanbase that didn\u2019t exist six months ago.<\/p>\n

\"SanSan Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund, left, scores on Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper during overtime of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we want. This is the position we want to be in,\u201d Celebrini said, finally offering a slightly intriguing glimpse into the mindset. \u201cWe have a feeling in our group\u2026 It\u2019s a different kind of swagger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, they do. And that swagger is tangible.<\/p>\n

And it showed up in the critical moments on Wednesday. There was no resignation or panic when the Sharks went down late.<\/p>\n

No, it was the Kings who were pressing, because they knew they were getting two straight minutes of No. 71 on the attack.<\/p>\n

He only needed one to tie the game. Then he ended it three minutes into overtime.<\/p>\n

The Sharks have played 43 games. They have survived the early grind, found an identity, and a savior. It\u2019s been a blast to watch.<\/p>\n

And now comes the fun part.<\/p>\n

There are 39 games left. The Sharks are hunting a division title. The league is on notice.<\/p>\n

And Celebrini isn\u2019t just trying to make a play; he\u2019s in a position to make history.<\/p>\n

There are two players in the more than 100 seasons of NHL hockey who have won the Hart Trophy as a teenager \u2014 Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.<\/p>\n

Celebrini is trending towards being the third.<\/p>\n

Absurd, incredible stuff.<\/p>\n

Just don\u2019t expect Celebrini to give you a good soundbite about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a good thing that Macklin Celebrini is a spectacular, precocious, game-changing, franchise-changing, league-changing hockey player. Because, boy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5126],"tags":[2616,2617,5,2614,186,1760,240,5303,1180,793,145,5304,5302,4,519,168,2618,2619,43,350],"class_list":{"0":"post-397659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-kings","8":"tag-bay-area","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-inside-sports","12":"tag-kings","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-la-kings","15":"tag-lakings","16":"tag-latest-headlines","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-kings","19":"tag-losangeles","20":"tag-losangeleskings","21":"tag-nhl","22":"tag-san-jose","23":"tag-san-jose-sharks","24":"tag-santa-clara-county","25":"tag-south-bay","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-sports-columnists"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115860013781145448","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}