Captain Celebrini? Sharks Teammates Think it Makes Sense

The San Jose Sharks could be looking to name the 13th captain in franchise history at some point in the near future, and according to the players, it seems they have someone in mind.

Macklin Celebrini is a superstar in every sense of the word and it seems clear that one day he’ll be named captain of the Sharks. Many of his teammates feel that he’s ready for the honor now, even though he’s only 19 years old.

“I don't know what else he could possibly do,” veteran forward Ryan Reaves said on Saturday. “His leadership on the ice, I've seen it before. I saw it in a guy named Sidney Crosby.”

“Obviously, he leads by example,” Tyler Toffoli added. “When you work as hard as he does, with how intense [he is] and everything that he brings, I definitely don't see a reason why not.”

The aforementioned Crosby and Connor McDavid were both tasked with the captaincy as teenagers. McDavid currently holds the record for being the youngest captain in NHL history, at 19 years and 266 days old. Celebrini won’t break that record, nor will he wear a “C” on his jersey before his 20th birthday, as he’ll hit that milestone on June 13, but it’s certainly not unheard of for a player of his caliber to be given control of the team’s leadership group.

Celebrini has already recorded the best offensive season by a Shark in franchise history, breaking Joe Thornton’s nearly two-decade-old record for points in a season by putting up 115 points in his sophomore season. He finished fourth in the league in points as well, behind only McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov. He’s done essentially everything that could be asked of him to this point in his career, so logically, a captaincy would be the next step.