(Oakville) Macklin Celebrini arrived rather incognito.
Of course, the other players invited to the Team Canada Junior camp for the 2024 World Championship already had the highlights and heard the rumors.
“I know he’s good,” center Owen Beck said with a big smile on his face after the team’s first on-ice training session. But I don’t know any more. »
“It’s my first time skating with him,” added defenseman Denton Mateychuk.
This is a first contact with the 17-year-old skater who could be the very first pick in June’s draft in Las Vegas. If anyone had any doubts, they were quickly dispelled.
“He doesn’t play like a guy his age,” said goalie Mathias Rousseau. He plays in a more mature way. He’s a very good player. »
Celebrini is playing rain and shine in his first season at Boston University in the NCAA, with 10 goals and 25 points in 15 games, against opponents who are sometimes seven or eight years older than him.
The Vancouver hockey player was also named USHL MVP at age 16 in 2022-23 after scoring 46 goals and 86 points in 50 games with the Chicago Steel.
Even so, most of the other 29 players trying to make the club’s roster for the tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden, had never played on the same ice as Celebrini before this week.
“You can see he’s already a professional, the way he conducts himself,” noted forward Conor Geekie. He’s only 17. I can’t wait to see where this all takes him. »
For his part, Celebrini is only trying to fit into the group for this tournament, after missing the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup last summer due to a shoulder injury.
“We have a really good group,” he said. This is just the selection camp, but hopefully we’ll build some chemistry already. I am very excited. »
Canadian head coach Alan Letang, like most of his players, had only seen Celebrini on video.
“He’s a guy who is always focused on the things he has to do in order to improve,” emphasized the coach.
Celebrini, whose father, Rick Celebrini, is director of sports medicine and performance for the Golden State Warriors, spent the entire summer rehabbing his shoulder injury as well as preparing for the schedule American college hockey.
“I was well surrounded,” he said. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to make this transition, to play against older, heavier guys. »
One player at the Canadian camp is familiar with Celebrini: Fraser Minten. The two grew up in the same BC hockey circles that also included Connor Bedard.
“He played against my brother,” said Minten, who played four games with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season before returning to the junior level. He terrorized everyone. »
Some discussions at Team Canada camp suggested that Celebrini possessed some of the qualities that allowed Bedard to dominate last year’s tournament, including his skating and shooting.
“They have similar styles,” Rousseau admitted.
Celebrini knows all eyes are on him and will be between now and the Las Vegas draft. Despite all this attention, he only thinks about the next exercise, his next presence, the next match.
“I have a lot of things to worry about right now,” Celebrini recalled. I try to be the best of myself. »
