Grier on Why Celebrini Might Be Ready for NHL, Hope That He Brings Sharks

SECAUCUS, N.J. — Mike Grier left little doubt who the San Jose Sharks are taking with the No. 1 pick of the 2024 Draft.

After the Draft Lottery, Grier was asked if he was selecting Macklin Celebrini, who’s been the front-runner for first-overall all season long.

“I would think so, yeah,” Grier said.

He then talked about meeting with Celebrini’s representatives over the next week, to “see where everybody’s heads at.”

Yeah, that sounds like a done deal.

Not so certain is whether Celebrini will start next season with the San Jose Sharks or return to Boston University.

But it sounds like Grier thinks that Celebrini is ready for the NHL.

There’s significant offensive promise. The 17-year-old won the Hobey Baker Award for best college player after scoring 32 goals and 32 assists in just 38 games.

“He obviously has the talent and the skating ability to play at this level,” Grier said.

More importantly for NHL hockey, Celebrini plays a mature game, well beyond his years. He’s got a fallback game if he isn’t scoring.

“He’s someone who plays 200 feet,” Grier said. “He doesn’t cheat either side of it. He works just as hard in the D-zone as he does in the offensive zone.”

Grier also complimented Celebrini’s 6-foot-1 and growing frame.

“He’s 17,” Grier said, “but he’s got a real solid build on him.”

Beyond that, he’s already a pro off the ice.

“He’s got a professional attitude and mentality to him,” Grier said. “I know that talking to [head coach] Jay Pandolfo at BU, they have to kick him off the ice sometimes. It’s how he plays the game, how he approaches the game.”

Three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews has been the common comparison, but Grier had more: “People obviously say the Toews thing because he plays two ways, good kid, good leadership.”

He added: “I think he’s also got a little bit of a Bo Horvat in him, playing a 200-foot game and the way he can shoot the puck. I think he’s got a little bit of Patrice Bergeron in him too.”

Grier cautioned, “You don’t want to compare him too much to any one player.”

But this isn’t often said of a teenager: “I think he’s a complete player.”

Hopefully, Celebrini is all that he’s cracked up to be. It’ll make one of the worst seasons in San Jose Sharks history – and five years and counting out of the playoffs – worth it.

Grier knows what winning the No. 1 pick and selecting Celebrini means to the fanbase.

“It was a tough year for the fans and the team and the players and the organization. So this is almost like a nice prize for what we went through this year,” Grier said.

Grier also knows what the return of the former Jr. Shark, whose father Rick Celebrini works for the Golden State Warriors, could mean to the San Jose Sharks and Bay Area hockey.

“I think he’s looking forward to being a Shark and I think it probably means a little bit more to him than maybe playing somewhere else,” Grier said. “It’s giving these kids who are playing youth hockey, someone to look up to and say, I can possibly be that kid down the road, who was a Jr. Shark and made it to the NHL.

“It’s a big day for hockey in San Jose and hockey in California. It’s not easy to play hockey out here. This kind of shows if you’re driven and you put the time and the work in, that anything’s possible.”

Anything’s possible, like the Jr. Shark bringing the Stanley Cup to the San Jose Sharks one day?

After five years of darkness for Sharks fans – anything feels possible today.