Macklin Celebrini already hard at work day after Sharks' 2024-25 NHL season ends originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
There are no days off for Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini.
That’s hyperbole, of course, but it was striking to see Celebrini on the ice, a day after the end of San Jose’s 2024-25 NHL regular season.
The only Sharks on the ice were Celebrini and Jack Thompson, who’s coming back from injury and ramping up to join the San Jose Barracuda in the AHL playoffs.
Of course, Celebrini still has his own hockey to play too: He confirmed what was a given, that he would be representing Team Canada at the World Championships in May in Sweden and Denmark.
Individually, could the 2024 No. 1 pick’s rookie season have gone any better?
He led all rookies with a 0.9 Points Per Game average. His 63 points was tied with Matvei Michkov for second among all NHL rookies, behind only Lane Hutson’s 66. His 25 goals was also second among all rookies, just behind Michkov’s 26. He impressed on both sides of the ice and was the San Jose Sharks’ clear-cut No. 1 center by the end of the season.
About the only thing that he could’ve done individually was play the 12 games that he missed because of an early-season hip injury, an absence which might cost him the Calder Trophy.
But besides that, he showed all the makings of a genuine superstar, both on the ice and with his work ethic.
The Sharks were a last-place team once again, with just one more win and five more points than last season’s 47 points, but the future feels a lot brighter for the franchise, chiefly because of Celebrini.
Celebrini shared what he wants to improve in his game next year, living with Joe Thornton, the World Championships as an audition for the Olympics, and what he’d say to other players to get them to join him with the Sharks.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have, presumably, made a roster move ahead of their final game of the 2024-25 season against the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
According to the NHL's media website, the Penguins have recalled forward Sam Poulin from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) - Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate - on an emergency basis.
With forward Kevin Hayes designated as a "game-time decision" due to a lower-body injury - and defenseman P.O Joseph ruled out after rotating in on forward line rushes in practice this week - the Penguins would have only had 11 healthy forwards and six healthy defenseman going into Thursday's game without an emergency recall.
Poulin, 24, was a first-round pick (21st overall) by the Penguins in 2019. He has played in six NHL games this season, registering one point, and he has two points in 12 career games.
At the AHL level this season, Poulin has 19 goals and 43 points in 56 games, including four points in his last four.
Like Ovechkin's Capitals, Penguins Owe It To Crosby To Right The ShipOn Sunday, the hockey world got to witness Alexander Ovechkin - The Great “8” - surpass The Great “One” for the most goals in NHL history.
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After falling to the Dallas Stars in the second round one year ago, the Colorado Avalanche will look to use that experience toward a different result as they start their 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs looking for revenge.
“They’ve ended our year a couple of different times since I’ve been here,” said Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar on Wednesday. “They’re a very good team. They’re very opportunistic. You’ve got to find ways to expose them on all areas of the ice.”
This spring, there’s one big change: longtime Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is playing on the other side. The Avalanche and Stars start their first-round seriesthis weekend.
Over seven seasons, Rantanen put up 101 playoff points in 81 games and was a key cog in Colorado’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2022.
“Mikko’s a playoff player,” Makar said. “That’s what he’s born and bred to do. So it’ll definitely be tough to defend. But that team in general – they’re very good.”
Before the Avalanche won their championship three years ago, then-GM Joe Sakic shored up his team’s roster by acquiring goaltender Darcy Kuemper during the summer of 2021, then bringing in Josh Manson, Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano at the 2022 deadline.
This year, Chris MacFarland has pulled off even more extensive roster renovations.
He handed the goaltending reins to Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood on top of adding forwards Martin Necas, Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle, along with defenseman Ryan Lindgren.
“I look back at the year we won, and they made some key additions at the deadline,” Makar said. “Those were huge to finding success in the playoffs and we've only done more of those throughout this year – what the management thinks we need. It’s definitely great that they have trust in us, and they give us the best opportunity to win.”
Two familiar faces from ’22 are also getting back in the mix: veteran blueliner Erik Johnson, who was re-acquired at the deadline, and left winger Gabriel Landeskog.
The Colorado captain, 32, hasn’t played an NHL game since he hoisted the Cup overhead after the Avalanche dethroned the Tampa Bay Lightning. But after nearly three years of rehab, Landeskog successfully suited up for a pair of AHL games with the Colorado Eagles. He also looked every bit like his usual feisty self when he joined his Avs teammates for practice on Wednesday in Denver.
“He definitely hasn’t lost a step,” Makar said. “It’s going to take some time to get back to where he was. Missing three years of gameplay is pretty crucial, but I think he’s doing the right thing, making the right steps here. Hopefully he just keeps progressing, and it’s nice to have him around the team. That’s for sure.”
Makar was part of a group that made the trek out to Loveland to take in Landeskog’s return to action last weekend. As an added bonus, he also got to see his younger brother and Avs prospect, Taylor Makar, suit up for the first-place Eagles, just two weeks after the left winger turned pro following a Hockey East championship at the University of Maine.
“Really cool experience,” Cale Makar said. “I haven't got the chance to watch my brother live since such a long time ago – probably, like, minor hockey.”
Already a past winner of the Calder, Conn Smythe and Norris Trophies, Makar just finished his most productive season yet.
He led all NHL defensemen with 92 points while landing in the top 10 in overall scoring. He also became just the ninth blueliner of all time to score 30 goals and the first since Mike Green of the Washington Capitals tallied 31 in 2008-09.
As he sits in pole position for his second Norris while NHL Awards voting takes place this week, perhaps the only person in the hockey world who’s not impressed is Makar himself.
“I think it just goes back to the team, and how well they've done at giving us good players to succeed,” he said. “You’re not achieving any of that without good teammates. For us, they’ve found great fits here, and I think that’s only elevated everybody’s play.”
With playoffs set to begin, Makar and Florida Panthers left winger Matthew Tkachuk are this year’s faces of the ‘Check In To Win’ sweepstakes at Great Clips, the official hair salon of the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.
From now through May 19, fans who download the Great Clips app and check in will be entered for a chance to see epic on-ice checks live from the stands at the 2025 Stanley Cup final. Other prizes include gift cards for Great Clips and NHLshop.com.
“It's pretty exciting for them to be sending one person to a Stanley Cup final game,” Makar said. “It's an honor to do a partnership with them.”
On top of a good haircut, Makar says “a lot” goes into his preparation to bring his best each game day.
“Nothing too superstitious or ritual-wise, but just making sure your body’s physically and mentally ready to get it going.”
Cale Makar and the Avalanche will start their first-round series against the Stars on the road on Saturday, April 19, at American Airlines Arena.
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Who's in the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery? These 11 teams can win the No. 1 pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Which NHL club will hit the lottery in 2025?
The order for the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery was set on the final night of the 2024-25 regular season Thursday. And the two teams with the best odds to land the No. 1 pick are the same as last year.
The San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks finished 32nd and 31st in the league standings, respectively, for the second straight season. San Jose has a 25.5% chance of winning the lottery, while Chicago boasts 13.5% odds of leapfrogging the Sharks for the top pick.
San Jose last year won the Macklin Celebrini sweepstakes for the franchise’s first-ever No. 1 pick. And the Sharks can now become the first team since the Edmonton Oilers from 2010-12 to pick first overall in consecutive drafts.
Chicago, meanwhile, could be selecting in the top two for a third straight year. The Blackhawks jumped from third to first in the 2023 lottery to secure Connor Bedard and they retained last year’s No. 2 pick before selecting Artyom Levshunov.
So, which other teams are in the running for this year’s top pick? And when will the lottery be held? Here’s what to know:
The draft lottery is used to award the top two picks in the draft and set the order of the first 16 selections, which includes all of the non-playoff teams. But not all teams in the draft lottery are eligible to win the No. 1 pick.
That’s because the most spots a team can move up in the lottery is 10, giving 11 clubs a chance to land the first pick and 12 teams a shot at the second pick.
For the lottery, 1,001 different four-number combinations are distributed among the teams, with the worst team having the most combinations, the second-worst team having the second-most combinations, and so on.
Fourteen ping pong balls numbered 1 to 14 are placed into a lottery machine and four are randomly drawn. The team that owns that four-digit combination gets the top pick, and the process is then repeated to award the second pick. Once the top two picks are awarded, the rest of the top 16 is set in inverse order of the regular-season standings.
If, for instance, the Detroit Red Wings, who enter the lottery sitting in the 12th draft slot, win the first drawing, they would move up 10 spots to No. 2 and the league-worst Sharks would get the No. 1 pick.
A rule introduced starting with the 2022 lottery bars a team from improving its draft position via the lottery more than twice over any five-year span. But, since the 2022 lottery, no team has moved up in the order more than once.
Here are the 11 teams with a chance to win the No. 1 pick, along with their odds:
The teams slotted from 12th to 16th are, in order, the Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Utah Hockey Club, Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. Detroit has a 5.1% chance of jumping up to second, Columbus has a 4.2% chance of jumping up to third, Utah has a 3.2% chance of jumping up to fourth, Vancouver has a 1.1% chance of jumping up to fifth and Calgary has a 1.1% chance of jumping up to sixth, according to Tankathon.
Calgary’s pick is currently set to convey to the Montreal Canadiens.
You can check out a full odds breakdown from Tankathon here.
The NHL hasn’t announced a date for the draft lottery yet. Last year’s event was on May 7.
The draft will be held at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles from Friday, June 27, to Saturday, June 28.
The NHL draft features seven rounds. The first round is set for June 27 followed by Rounds 2-7 on June 28.
OHL defenseman Matthew Schaefer is expected to be the first player taken in this year’s draft. Schaefer, 17, had seven goals and 15 assists with a plus-21 rating over 17 games this season with the Erie Otters before suffering a broken collarbone while playing for Canada at the world junior championship in December.
The last time a defenseman went No. 1 overall was in 2022 when the Sabres took Owen Power.