Seeing two gifted young people begin their NHL careers at the same time on the same team is a unique fact.
There was Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016; Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in Chicago almost a decade earlier, in 2007.
Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini could be next, as early as October in San Jose. Smith’s return to Boston College next winter seemed sealed, but in a twist, Sheng Peng, a credible informant in San Jose, today announced the imminent signing of this fourth overall pick in 2023.
Smith, a 6-foot, 181-pound right-handed center drafted after Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson and Adam Fantilli, has just amassed 71 points in just 41 games at Boston College as part of a formidable young trio completed by Gabriel Perreault and Ryan Leonard, two more first-round picks in 2023.
For comparison, 2022 third overall pick Logan Cooley had 60 points in 39 games in his first and only season at the University of Minnesota. He had 44 points last season in his first year in Arizona on one of the Coyotes’ top three lines.
Celebrini has not yet been drafted. But the suspense ended on the evening of the lottery. This consensus first overall pick will end up with the winners of the first batch, the Sharks. Celebrini, also a center, has just completed his first season at Boston University, alongside the Canadiens’ defenseman, Lane Hutson. At just 17 years old, he amassed 64 points, including 32 goals, in just 38 games.
Not only does he dominate offensively, but his defensive game is praised. He remains a more complete center than Connor Bedard, believe several observers. It would be surprising to see him return to the NCAA after such domination. The arrival of Celebrini in the Sharks fold may even have encouraged Smith to move forward with his arrival in San Jose.
After around fifteen years of domination between 2004 and 2019, especially in the regular season, but also a Stanley Cup final and four aces, the Sharks have just experienced five years of misery.
Unfortunately, their first pick in 2020, third overall, was lost to Erik Karlsson. The Senators drafted Tim Stützle with this pick. Current Sharks GM Mike Grier managed to salvage the 14e overall pick, that of the Penguins, this season for Karlsson.
The Sharks drafted winger William Eklund seventh overall in 2021. In his first full season in the NHL last winter, Eklund had 45 points, even though he was poorly surrounded.
San Jose held the 11e choice in 2022, but Grier, newly in office, preferred to move back to 27e rank, but amass two additional second-round picks. The Coyotes drafted Conor Geekie at 11the rank and the Sharks center Filip Bystedt, then another center, Cam Lund, and defenseman Mattias Havelid, in the second round. Bystedt finished the season strong in the American League with almost a point per game.
Toews and Kane had a promising debut season in 2007-08. Kane, a winger, first overall pick in 2007, had 72 points in 82 games. Toews, a less explosive but more complete center, amassed 54 points, including 24 goals, in just 64 games.
That season, the Hawks climbed the standings to finish third in their section, with a record of 40-34-8. But Chicago, it should be noted, already had Duncan Keith, 25, Brent Seabrook, 23, and Dustin Byfuglien, 23, on defense. The Sharks have almost nothing at this position right now.
Matthews and Marner had 69 and 61 points respectively in 2016-17 in their first season in Toronto. We already had Nazem Kadri, James Van Riemdsyk and William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardner and Nikita Zaitsev on defense. The Leafs were able to qualify for the playoffs that year.
We will undoubtedly have to be more patient in San Jose, even if Smith and Celebrini make the jump simultaneously. But with these two, with winger Quentin Musty, a late first-round pick in 2023, outrageously dominant offensively in the Ontario Junior League at 18, with two more first-round picks in 2025, after the two from 2024 among the top 14, we can already see the light at the end of the tunnel in San Jose.
Caufield among the Americans cited
PHOTO DAVID W CERNY, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Cole Caufield (right)
The general manager of the American team in anticipation of the NHL Four Nations Showdown and the Olympic Games, Bill Guerin, strongly suggested that available players participate in the World Championship last week if they wanted to be among the candidates to major upcoming events. The Americans lost in the semi-final against Sweden, but some players raised their rating in the eyes of the boss.
“Matt Boldy played really well. Brock Nelson is good. Johnny Gaudreau was extraordinary. Zach Werenski was very good. We all know Seth Jones. Cole Caufield had a big night the other night. Several did really well. But above all I appreciated their commitment. Brady Tkachuk was amazing, a great leader. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of these players. »
Caufield had eight points in as many games, including four against Latvia, a mid-pack club that finished ninth overall out of sixteen clubs.