SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks are entering a new phase after a tear down and rebuild led to seven straight seasons without a playoff berth.
With one of the game's top young stars leading the way, the anticipation for this season is high and Celebrini sees it almost everywhere he goes around the Bay Area from taking batting practice before a recent San Francisco Giants game to his day-to-day life.
“It’s pretty cool walking around, talking to people, people coming up to us on the street just saying how excited they are about the season,” Celebrini said Thursday on the first day of training camp. “We didn’t really get that the last couple of years, so it’s cool to see the excitement from the fans.”
It comes with good reason. The 20-year-old Celebrini is coming off one of the best seasons ever for a player so young, ranking fourth in the league in scoring, starring in the Olympics and then signing a five-year, $94 million extension this summer.
Celebrini is the leader of a young core in San Jose that fought its way into playoff contention last spring before falling four points short and now knows that making the postseason for the first time since 2019 is the standard this season.
He welcomes the scrutiny.
“You’d rather have expectations and want to win and kind of be fighting for it every night instead of looking to the next couple years,” Celebrini said. “That’s where the focus has shifted for our group this year and kind of taking the steps necessary to make the playoffs and have that experience.”
General manager Mike Grier reinforced the roster this summer, adding veteran defensemen Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba and Michael Kesserling, along with forward Mason Marchment to give a young roster some playoff-tested grit.
The group of youngsters is led by Celebrini, housemate Will Smith, forwards Michael Misa and Igor Chernyshov, and defenseman Sam Dickinson. San Jose also added three first-round picks in June, including Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg, who might be able to step right in and contribute on the top six.
“Obviously, playing against San Jose the last couple of years, you see the skill, you see the care, you see the team growing,” said Nurse, who made the Stanley Cup Finals with Edmonton in 2024 and '25. “Now it’s time to take a step. As a group, now we’re not going to surprise anyone. Every night we’re going to get everyone’s best. When teams are playing you like that, you have to bring your best each and every night.”
The keys for the Sharks to get over the hump this year begin with the start of the season after San Jose went winless in the first nine games two years ago and six games last year.
The Sharks also want to become stronger defensively after allowing the third most goals last season and improve a power-play unit that finished in the middle of the pack.
“There’s definitely a consistent theme with the guys that were brought in here,” said Trouba, who has played 85 career playoff games with Winnipeg, the New York Rangers and Anaheim. “We want to play a hard game, be hard to play against. I remember back when I started my career, it was not very fun to play against the Sharks. ... I think that’s the identity in the team that we want to get back to."
Trouba played against San Jose early in his career when San Jose was a consistent contender in the Western Conference and the Shark Tank was one of the toughest buildings for visiting teams.
That energy started to come back last season when the Sharks had the biggest percentage increase in home attendance thanks in part to 22 sellouts.
“When the Sharks are good, this building is one of the best to play in in the league,” said Marchment, who grew up going to games at the Shark Tank when his late father, Bryan, spent six seasons in San Jose. “I just hope that we can put out there what the fans want and we can get this building rocking again.”
The Sharks began a two-week sprint on Thursday to the season opener when they will host star-studded Florida on Oct. 1. They gave coach Ryan Warsofsky an extension on Thursday with the belief that he can lead them back to the playoffs.
“This time of year there’s always optimism,” Grier said. “It's just nice to see every year that we’ve kind of created a little bit more competition and the group’s improved each year. This is probably our most talented group but we still have to go out there and play the games.”
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