Macklin Celebrini has been making his presence known in year two of what could possibly be a long, successful NHL career. And everybody knew it would only be a matter of time before he went out and dominated the competition.
It happened on Thursday night, when Celebrini enjoyed a five-point night and a hat trick against the New York Rangers in a game that handed the San Jose Sharks their first win of the season. The performance gave Celebrini, who averaged a point per game heading into the contest, 11 points and five goals in his first seven games of the season, with a plus-1 rating and a 29.4 shooting percentage.
It was Celebrini's second career hat trick, with the first coming in an 8-7 loss against the Minnesota Wild back on Apr 9. And Celebrini wasn't the only youngster to enjoy a big night, as Will Smith put up four points and two goals. Performances from both players should send shockwaves through the NHL and put the league on notice.
Rangers are still playing like a team with plenty of fight
For the Rangers, they were just on the wrong side of everything. The Blueshirts can't let a breakout performance from this trio of youngsters deter them.
This team is just one season removed from its 2023-24 campaign that saw them earn the Presidents' Trophy. And it wasn't like they let Celebrini and Smith blow them out, seemingly having an answer for the Sharks in Thursday night's high-scoring matchup.
So, while it was demoralizing to allow six goals against the San Jose Sharks, a team that looks like it's a year, at best, away from contention, they still played like a unit that's nowhere near ready to give up on the young season. That's not a moral victory, but it should still assure fans that this group is going to come out swinging every time they hit the ice.
NHL teams need to take notes on Sharks youngsters following the New York Rangers' loss
For the rest of the NHL, it means they need to specifically start game-planning around Celebrini, Smith, and other rising stars on this young Sharks team. No, the Sharks aren't going anywhere this year, and nobody needs to pretend otherwise. But they're capable of putting up six goals on the Rangers, a team with one of hockey's best goaltenders.
And it won't be the last time you'll see Celebrini enjoy a game like this. As the season wears on and this Sharks team gets used to playing alongside one another even more, a six-goal game and five points from Celebrini will be more common.
There are burning questions. The first is: How will the Rangers respond to allowing the 19-year-old score on them every time they turned around on Thursday? The second? What kind of answer does the rest of the league have for Celebrini after what will always be one of the best performances of his career?