Bruce Richardson admits it: he has rarely been more impressed with a hockey player than with 16-year-old Macklin Celebrini.
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While it’s a matter of time before Connor Bedard becomes the first-ever pick in the 2023 draft, one name is already starting to circulate as a successor and potential first-in-class in 2024, and that’s Celebrini.
Besides the fact that he already has a star name, it also looks like he has the skills to be the very first player drafted in just over a year. Assistant coach with the Canadian team which is currently participating in the World Under-18 Championship in Switzerland, Richardson quickly understood why there was so much enthusiasm for the young man from British Columbia.
“He’s really good,” Richardson said from Porrentruy, Switzerland. He has an incredible hockey head, plus intelligence, good skills and good skating. What surprised me the most about him was his physical involvement. I had seen him at the World Under-17 Challenge and he wasn’t as involved. Now that he plays with older players, you see that he has hockey in him. In addition, he is a very humble young person and focused on becoming the best player possible.
Important role
Despite his young age, Celebrini should have a prominent role with the Canadian team. In the team’s first game on Thursday, he played on the first line with two top draft prospects: Colby Barlow and Andrew Cristall.
“It’s rare, a player who impresses me so much. Him, you see that he is in a class apart. I can’t wait to see how he will continue to develop at Boston University,” adds Richardson.
Because even though he is Canadian, Celebrini decided to go the American college route and that is why he spent the last season with the Chicago Steel in the United States Junior League (USHL). His 86 points in 50 games broke a record for the most points by a player under the age of 17 in league history.
And the Quebecers?
We couldn’t have Richardson on the phone without telling him about the very weak Quebec delegation with the national under-18 team. Only 16-year-old goaltender Gabriel D’Aigle has earned a place with the team.
But beware: this tournament taking place annually while several teams of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) are still in the playoffs, it is not uncommon for several good elements not to be there.
That’s what played against the QMJHL this year, concedes Richardson, who assures that Ethan Gauthier, Mathieu Cataford and Étienne Morin would have been in the tournament if their QMJHL team had been eliminated.
“We were all watching game 7 [entre Moncton et Baie-Comeau]. If Moncton lost, Morin was on the plane and coming here. The 2005 vintage in Quebec is harder. Next year there will be more.”
The forgotten player who has raised the most questions is Shawinigan Cataractes defenseman Jordan Tourigny, who was with Team Canada at the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup last summer.
“We don’t build a star team, but a team to win the gold medal, explains Richardson. Jordan Tourigny, maybe in his style, there were maybe four defenders in front of him. For positions of 5e6e or 7emaybe we needed players who could play other roles.”
Moreover, Canada did not start its gold rush in the best way on Thursday, when the national team was washed out 8-0 by Sweden at the end of the competition. .