The best player in the draft, and a well-rounded menace.
Macklin Celebrini is the type of prospect who almost suffers from the fact that he is just good at everything. You can’t just speak about his shot, or his skating ability, or his hands, there’s nothing that stands out because Celebrini is strong in every department. He is a franchise center in every sense of the word.
Pre-Draft Rankings:
No. 1 by The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)
No.1 by Sportsnet
No.1 by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
No.1 by Elite Prospects
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Everything. Celebrini will be (barring injury), an NHL player for the next 10-plus years. It is just a matter of how great his heights will reach. He amassed 64 points in 38 games during his Freshman year, as the first line center for a powerhouse Boston University team that went to the Frozen Four. No other 17-year old in NCAA history has ever even sniffed the points total that Celebrini last season, with Jonathan Toews in a distant second. He won the 2024 Hobey Baker Trophy at just 17 years old, as the youngest player in college hockey.
He plays a staunch 200-foot game that has so few holes in it that it makes analysis repetitive. He drives play as a center, slicing through seasoned opposition with ease and with the requisite vision to set up his teammates in dangerous positions. If you leave him alone? He has zero issue in stepping into a shot and beating goaltenders clean. Celebrini was BU’s alpha dog, he put the team on his back at times and has the motor of a player that can impose themselves on a game and change it entirely. The finesse is there as well; he can stickhandle at speed and under duress, and is slippery while still being direct taking on defenders. At 6 foot and 190 pounds, he has a sturdy frame and can take punishment while giving it back… if anyone can actually manage to line him up.
Celebrini is someone that causes defenders to scramble when they see him bearing down on them. They can never stay totally set because he can dismantle them in so many different ways. When he does get set in the offensive zone, he is a dual-threat to launch a one-timer right over the goalie’s shoulder, or make a spinning behind-the-back pass that sets up a teammate for an easy goal. He is impossible to pin down. He thinks the game at such a high-level for someone who has basically always been younger than his peers.
And to top it all off, he plays defense with the same intensity and focus as he does in the offensive zone. He is a dogged defender who has the will to match his skill in the trenches. He battles for pucks like a fourth liner, and scores like some of the more elite prospects seen in recent memory. A coach’s dream.
Celebrini will be NHL-ready the second his name is called in Vegas on draft night. There is no seasoning in the AHL needed, he’ll be unleashed right away and should be a handful from game one.
What’s not to like?
It is an exercise in nitpicking to even write about the weaknesses of Macklin Celebrini. At least with Connor Bedard last year, you could harp on his size and defensive ability as easy criticisms of his game that could posssibly be improved.
That is not the case here, maybe you could say that there isn’t one aspect of Celebrini that stands out the most, but that is really just a testament to his overall game as a whole. The most negative thing I have personally seen said about him is that he may not be a “generational” talent, just a franchise center. Hilarious.
I have no idea what Celebrini is bad at. If there are weaknesses in his game, they will be uncovered at the NHL level, because up to this point, there really isn’t anything there. He is a 200-foot star.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
Celebrini would be the elite first line center that the Flyers have been begging for since Eric Lindros. He would be one of the centerpieces of a young team and would make anyone he plays with better. Celebrini and Matvei Michkov as a duo is an intoxicating thought. Alas, it is impossible for that to happen unless he decides to leave San Jose at some point down the road. He would solve the power play, too.
Can the Flyers actually get him?
No, he is the consensus 1st overall pick, and one is before twelve. San Jose is not trading that pick unless GM Mike Grier turns double agent.
What scouts are saying
“He checks every box you want in a top prospect and is one of the few players I’ve scouted where it’s hard to see any noticeable weakness.” – Corey Pronman, The Athletic
“What Celebrini provides offensively is a skill set that cannot be taught. He’s a gifted talent who loves ripping pucks from the weak side on the power play and has an NHL quality shot, but he’s not just a shooter. He’s also a play driver with fantastic vision off the rush and via zone entries that lead the power play breakout.” – Jason Bukala, Sportsnet
“Celebrini’s play away from the puck stacked on top of elite-level offensive capabilities make him basically the total package teams look for in a No. 1 center.” – Chris Peters, Flo Hockey
Added to the poll in contention for the No. 2 slot, the smooth-skating, 6’7 Russian defender, Anton Silayev.
“It’s not often you find a 6-foot-7, 211-pound defenseman capable of moving like him with his smooth and active skating stride,” NHL director of European Scouting Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen said. “He seems to always be alert and able to quickly get pucks to his forwards in transition. He can carry the puck and has a great release. His personal skills are still a bit raw, but his ceiling is high. He’s looked so composed in the KHL. He seems to be ready to play in the NHL almost immediately.” – NHL director of European Scouting Jukka-Pekka Vuorinen
