Get ready for the Macklin Celebrini show

With the dawn of a new season, a new career is set to begin out west as Macklin Celebrini is set to make his NHL debut with the San Jose Sharks.

On Thursday night, Celebrini and the team that took him first overall at this year’s NHL Draft host the St. Louis Blues in what is going to be an anticipated game, especially with so much hype around the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner.

There are many reasons to be excited about the Sharks’ rookie. At Boston University, he became the first 17-year-old to win the Hobey, breaking the record for most goals scored by a player of that age as well. His dynamic skills made him a wire-to-wire top prospect, with many parts of his game expected to translate to the NHL.

On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss what makes Celebrini so entertaining and what his expectations are in his freshman season.

Frank Seravalli: I don’t know what this season’s going to look like. I think [Celebrini’s] going to meet expectations for sure. What are they? What are the reasonable ones? I don’t know, 55-60 points, somewhere in that neighborhood? This guy is going to be a superstar, zero doubt about that. The physical nature that he plays with, the way he invites contract, and the trust that the coaching staff will have in him to play a complete game. He’s as well-rounded of a player that we’ve seen come out in the draft.

To be all those things at 18…it’s one thing to want to invite the physical contact, it’s another thing to have a body that’s able to withstand it. I think that sort of unique combination is going to put him in a great spot for success. I just feel like a lot of what we’re going to see this year from Celebrini and the Sharks is not all that different than what the Blackhawks experienced last year with Connor Bedard.

You can watch the entire segment and full episode here: