Sharks GM Mike Grier explains Macklin Celebrini SIGNING

Sharks GM Mike Grier explains Macklin Celebrini SIGNING

can you just take us through this process of getting Macklin signed coming to the Sharks yeah um you know from Once won the lottery I you know I didn’t really uh talk to Mac or his family I wanted him to have some time to um enjoy kind of enjoy the moment I’m sure it’s been a long year for him going through the draft process so um we kind of left him alone for a bit um we met with him at the combine interview and dinner and all that went well um and then uh you know a couple couple weeks before the draft I met with his dad and his agent and kind of went over the plan and you know what we were you know uh what we’re hoping to do what we’re going to try and do um you know things we outlined for mlin and uh and um some little things like that and then um you know we got to the draft and didn’t really bother him then that’s a big moment for him him and his family um to enjoy and you know it was good to be around him at Dev camp but um you know we didn’t really know which way it was going to go um you know I talked to J Pand Alo um at the draft and a little bit before the draft and he wasn’t completely sure if mck was going to be coming back to school either so um you know we’re really excited to uh you know have him have him part of the organization and um and join us this year and referencing I guess that that plan uh what you guys did in free agency how important do you think that was and also your trade Acquisitions to guys like Barkley Gad and Etc how important you think that was for mlin to show him that you guys were going to do your best to sort of insulate you know a 18-year-old kid um I think it was probably it was important uh to him and his uh you know his family and represent I know that we were going to be a better team this year more competitive team and have some good vets around him who could help you know help guide them through through the ups and downs of the season and um you know be a more competitive team and and things like that so um you know I’m sure it helped a little bit and today is about Macklin but just in terms of I guess helping Macklin out do you have any other plans to add to the team this summer any specific positions or areas of sort of concern um no not really I think uh you know like I said a few days ago I think most of the heavy liftings done will maybe uh still kind of pick around the edges and see if something pops up here now that the dust is settled um and maybe add you know maybe there’s potential to add something on the back end or or depth piece but for the most part I think we’ll be done and you know there’ll be opportunity for um you know our young players here as well all right thanks Mike yeah go to Curtis mik when won you say the steel got finalized was that this morning or maybe yesterday some point um probably this this morning um you know we had we had some conversation um after Dev camp and into yesterday but um you know nothing was nothing was finalized till till this morning and uh you know it was um pretty big day for us so we’re really excited I was just say how how big of a boost is it for this year’s team to have a mlin celebra in on your roster yeah I think it’s big for the guys in the room um and and obviously for the fans as well I think there’s some there’s some buzz you could you kind of feel it during the um the scrimmage Prospect scrimmage the other day but you know I think the guys in the room the young players and the veterans alike um realize you know the special talent than mlin is and I think there’s some excitement for those guys to have the chance to play with so um you know for him to be coming coming in this year I think uh I think everyone and all the guys are are pretty excited what what role do you see uh for mlin this year I guess I’m just kind of curious you know how much can he put on this kid’s plate right away uh I don’t want to put too much on his plate um you know I think that’s been kind of the goal here to kind of um try and insulate him and will um so they don’t feel like they got the weight of the world on their shoulders and you know they got to go out and produce every single night um so um you know we’ll let him find his find his way I’m sure there’ll be some ups and downs along the way but hopefully we’ll you know we’ll have enough bodies here and enough veterans here to um kind of help help them along the way and so um it’s hard it’s hard to say but you know I’m not expecting to go out there and you know be the MVP of the league or anything like that he’s gonna you know there’s going to be bumps there’s going to be ups and downs and I’m sure he’ll navigate that and we’ll help him navigate those things know I’ve heard a lot of coaches say it’s easier to come into the league as a Winger and maybe not as a centerman but do you see Macklin as a center you know this this season for you guys just the way your roster constructed and maybe some question marks here and there I mean um you know I guess it it’s going to be up to Ryan kind of to go over the lineup but uh do you see him being a him and will maybe being centerman right off the Hop here um that’s the idea but like you said we’ll we’ll um see how Camp goes and see what Ryan thinks and the coaching staff thinks about everything and you know but I think you know they’ve both been centers their whole life um you know so I is it easier to be a wing sure there’s a little less responsibility but at the end of the day these guys have both been Elite centerman their whole their whole lives and and that’s what they’re used to playing and that’s what they I’m sure they prefer playing so um we’ll see how it goes we do have some options um guys that can kind of fill in and play center throughout the lineup which is which was also part of the plan and you know some of those guys can maybe be on their wings and help them with some base offs and some of the defensive responsibilities as well do you feel you need anybody else to you know guard against guys are the opposing teams maybe taking liberties with guys like uh Smith and celebrini or do you feel that that part of your roster uh taken care of well I think we’re I think we we have some team toughness there um so um and we also have you know I think giovan’s got some toughness if that’s a situation as well if we need someone like that so um I I think the way the league is now um you know I’m sure they’re going to teams are going to play these guys hard um but I think we we have some enough team toughness right now to kind of uh should help help kind of protect those guys in these situations when you look around your division it’s it’s McDavid it’s copar it’s iole do you put Macklin in that same breath one day potentially being Maybe not maybe not McDavid I mean obviously he’s a phenomenal player but just a guy who could be a number one Center for this for the Sharks for a really long time yeah I mean that’s the hope I I don’t want to um compare him or put him up against anyone saying he’s going to be this or he’s going to be that um you know I think we we feel really good about him being and him and will being you know a really good one to punch down the middle for a long long time here we feel very fortunate to have them both and uh you know it’s uh I don’t think it’s it’s fair fair on any of these kids to kind of say they’re going to be this or that they’ll all find their way and uh but we think they’re going to be really good players for a long time all right thank you yeah let’s go to Max hey Mike um obviously you know everything here you know congratulations on the mckin signing a lot of young prospects here but you look at a lot of the other players here it looks like there’s almost like a log jamut forward a lot of players is there any worry of almost playing you know having spots for enough of these kids and and do you see you know maybe utilizing some of the some of the players like a call graph maybe getting some more time in the AHL um no I’m not worried about it I think the NHL is is all about competition and um none of these kids should be handed anything right if you’re good enough good enough to play You’ll Play and if you earn your way under the roster you’ll play um you know we’ll keep the best players here and who we think will help us win the most games um so if a young guy comes out and beat and comes out and beats an older player out for a position and has a better Camp then you know they’re going to play I think that’s what we’ve been striving for um since I took over to have to have as much internal competition as possible I think that makes everyone better in involved in it and um we probably haven’t had enough of that um over these first couple years I expect this to be the most competitive training camp we’ve had and uh you know there’s on top of that there’s always injuries as we you know we saw with cooch and and Granny last year coming out of Camp so um it’s not it’s not too big of a concern of mine is a player like Tyler T Foley you know on paper the connections between the two of them but just as a Bonafide player who scored over 30 goals w a cup is he kind of the guy that you first mind goes to okay let’s give him a shot with Macklin um I mean I’ll leave that up to Ryan and the staff um who’s playing with who but you know for all those we brought him in for all those reasons you said you know he’s a proven score he’s he’ll be good for for our young centers um you know knows how to play the game he gets open it’ll be nice to have him a veteran president who’s been through the ups and downs of the season the grind of a season to know that you know every night’s not going to be perfect um so you know him and uh goody having one cups it’s kind of a it’s an invaluable thing to have in the room you know I don’t think you can really underestimate how underestimate how important and stuff people have gone through the grind and come out at the end of it holding the cup it’s pretty uh pretty important and we’re we’re fortunate to have those guys with Will and Macklin signing this year was there any concern uh I don’t know if concern is the right word but is there any kind of like was there a thought okay do we want to have these guys both on the ELC running out at the same time obviously with the cap going up that might think might make things a little bit easier you know come three years from now whenever you guys signed the extension but was there any thought that went into that um no we didn’t give it too much thought I think we you know we wanted to get both guys into the system um you know as soon as possible and we thought they’re both ready to play if we if we didn’t think they’re ready to play and contribute at the NHL level we you know we wouldn’t wanted of pushed to sign them so um we think they’re both ready and you know we’ll deal with after you know in three years we’ll we’ll deal with the the contract situation then obviously you know we’re talking about Macklin here but you know there were you know the rest of the coaching staff was finalized what went on behind obviously bring back Ryan cl to the organization um you know Chloe’s really really sharp guy um you know I was we’d kept in touch over the years um you know I think he’s had some really good experiences from you know when he in finished playing in Jersey uh you know Lou Lam let him spend a lot of time with him and and uh kind of learn things from Lou and then you know on the coaching side he he spent some time with John Hines and and shelvin Keefe and and when he was in Toronto he spent time with you know Cal dubis and his staff there as well as coaching so um and then you know he and I work together in New York and he’s a really bright guy um sees the game can break down the game really really well um so it’s another different perspective um for me and our staff to have and um I think he’s going to be a great addition great addition to uh to our staff and the organization you know he’s a he’s a great person as well so um you know we’re trying to get as many good people in here and good hockey people in here as possible and I think um you know his addition is going to going to make us better organization awesome thanks Mike Adam man.com hi Mike um just curious what you saw what made it clear to you that Macklin was NHL ready right now ready to step right into your lineup did you see it along the way during the season was it something at development camp that sort of clicked for you and the group that said okay this guy’s ready to to be an NHL player you know watching him during the season you know the his play kind of speaks for itself um you know as a at his age the the maturity he played with um playing a full 200 foot game um getting to the middle of the rank making plays um handling contact when you know there’s some of these older teams kind of went after him he never backed down um so his play kind of speaks for itself you know World Juniors youngest kid out there and he was kind of candid as go-to guy so um from a play standpoint we just we thought he’d be able that he’s ready and he’ll be able to handle it but I think what really pushed us over the edge was uh you know our our interview and and dinner with him at the combine where you know he just showed a maturity Beyond his years to um in his drive and his passion and and um his want to be a a great player in this league so um when you’re around those type of players I think you recognize it and um you know he’s he kind of has that Alpha mentality that um you know made us believe he’s ready to handle handle the ups and downs and the rigors of an NHL season Jen uh Mike uh going off of that um that Alpha mentality and Todd said when we talked with him a couple days ago that mlin wants to be first in everything and have you ever played with a guy like that or in your experience in in management or as a coach have you ever seen a guy like that with just that sort of mentality who are guys like that that you’ve seen yeah I mean I’ve I’ve been you know fortunate to play with you know guys like that throughout the throughout my time whether that’s you know Doug white in Edmonton um you know yarmer in Washington um you know and then you know from this this side of it um on the other side of it not the player player side of it well you know obviously play with jumbo and Patty and and pav all three of those guys you know they have the same mentality of wanting to be the best and working on the Craft um consistently um to want to want to be the best player they can be and um believe that they can make any play on the on the rink um and then uh you know from this side of it and the coaching side I had Jack e Jack us is built the same way um Jack thinks he can do anything on the rank at any time um thinks he’s always the best player on the ice and um so and then you know working with Chicago you obviously have Kane and Taves there and uh and um so those are kind of the alphit that I’ve been around and they and mlin has the same drive to be the best um and to thinks he’s you know when he steps on the ice he’s not taking a back seat to anyone um constantly working constantly pushing himself and his pushing his teammates so um you know I just think he’s got that that special kind of drive with him and going back to Ryan K he’s an assistant general manager um you’re other agms you have Joe will maybe a little more Barracuda Focus maybe Tom is more cap focused is there a particular Focus for for Ryan um yeah I mean he’ll probably be more involved in the day-to-day hockey stuff the actual you know not to say that Joe and Tom aren’t but you know I think he’ll be involved and um I think he’s got a good eye good eye for talent um he’s got some really good ideas and thoughts about Player Development and um and scouting and things like that so um I think he’ll be involved in more more and more stuff on the on ice hockey side of things and finally for me just on assistant coaches and he talk about the decision to bring Brian wisman back and bring on Doug Huda and Jeff rmer yeah wise um you know I think he he did a good job with the power play and you know speaking with the with the forwards and and those guys that were on the power play at the you know at our exit meetings guys had you know very positive things to say about him um you know and I think he kind of grew as uh over the two years where you know year one he was he was kind of the third assistant and year two he kind of bumped up to more of a you know a number two and took over the power play and and six on five and uh things and he’s got a history of some Player Development with his time in college as well so um you know where we are as a franchise we thought it was a good fit um I think Doug Huda kind of balances out our staff in general um Ryan included with all his experience um you know in the league played in the league for a long time now he’s coached in the league a long time time um you know we’re going to have some young D coming up and I think he’s a great teacher for great teacher for those players and I think they’ll be a good um you know a good year for for Ryan and uh kind of help him navigate the ups and downs of the season I don’t think there’s anything that he hasn’t seen so um you know it would be a good sounding board for Ryan and the whole staff um and Jeff Jeff rmer you know he’s he’s played in a bunch of different leagues and um he’s done Player Development and he’s done a lot of um you know skill skill work and now he’s getting his you know the last few years he’s kind of got his foot in the door in the coaching and he’s kind of he’s kind of Blended the skill work and Player Development work with coaching and um you know that’s a good good mix for us with with where we are and and the young players we’re going to have around here that um you know we have someone who’s got that Player Development skill development background to to help help with our players development as we move along right we’ll wrap it with Curtis Mike what do you want now your roster is more or less said what do first of all what are your uh what what do you think the identity of this team is going to be this year and as far as your timeline maybe for becoming more of a playoff contending type team is that moved up at all I mean do you maybe not this year but looking at 2025 26 it’s being a season where um you like to make a run at a playoff spot is that does that um you know maybe part of the plan at all um as I I’ve kind of told you guys I don’t I don’t really want to put um you know exact timelines on on things here I think we just need to keep getting better and keep moving forward um and that’s what I’d like to see with the group that we have here is um you know getting better and and um in pushing things forward and you know that’s hopefully you know in the in the next couple years we can we can push for the playoffs and be there but I don’t want to give you a timeline say next year you know this is what we’re going to do I think we just need to keep getting better and keep growing as a team and improving individually um as far as next year goes I think you know the the main thing I like to see and I know Ryan would like to see is us um just being a more competitive harder to team to play against where other teams aren’t coming in here and having easy nights um so um I think that’s going to be the foundation of everything that we’re you know hardworking competitive team um and I think uh I think with the players we’ve added um they all have a history of of playing a certain way and contributing a certain way and um add those to some of the other pieces that were already here um I think you can kind of start to see it coming together as us kind of taking starting to take that identity and you know hopefully you know the talent that we have um not only our our guys that are coming in but you know Becky and and zets and those guys you know it’ll be another year they’ll have a year of experience in the league under their belt so hopefully those guys can keep growing and taking steps as well so um you know if everyone gets a little bit better and everyone you know takes a little step forward you know we should be a better team but um at the core and the foundation of everything is us being you know a more competitive hard to play against Team all right thank you right Shan go ahead you got one more yeah just a quick one sorry Mike um is Macklin going to play rookie face off uh I would imagine I would imagine he would yeah at this point um you know I would imagine needs to get those game reps and be and be out there and uh start kind of getting used to what what Pro Hockey going to look like okay great thank you

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Macklin Celebrini’s homecoming is complete.

The 18-year-old phenom signed his entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks, general manager Mike Grier announced Saturday, meaning he’ll play in the NHL next season.

Celebrini officially turns pro after it was unclear if he’d return for another season at Boston University following the Sharks selecting him No. 1 overall in the 2024 NHL Draft last month.

San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng was first to report the news that Celebrini would go pro.

“Macklin is not only a special player on the ice, but he is a poised, confident and intelligent young man off of it,” Grier said in a statement released by the team. “His combination of skills and hockey sense is rare, and we are extremely confident that he is ready to make the transition to being a full-time NHL player. We could not be more excited to have Macklin locked in to formally join the Sharks organization for the 2024-25 season.”

Read More: https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks/macklin-celebrini-pro-contract-2024-draft/1752708/

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