San Jose Sharks first overall pick Macklin Celebrini suffers major setback after only one career game played
The San Jose Sharks came into the 2024 season with plenty of hype behind their young rookie Macklin Celebrini, but he's already been hit with a major setback.
After a few years of struggle, the San Jose Sharks are putting together a very impressive young roster, and with No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini leading the way, there's optimism for this rebuild after all. During the pre-season, top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov suffered a major setback after being demoted to the AHL, and now Macklin Celebrini has suffered his own setback, which will have some Sharks fans very worried.
In his first NHL game, Celebrini had some electric moments on his way to an impressive two point night, but none were bigger than the scoring of his first career goal, even if it came in less than ideal circumstances.
Unfortunately, things have gone downhill since then, with Celebrini dealing with a lower body injury that will now officially see him sent to the injured reserve, as first reported by top NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.
Thankfully this isn't a long-term injury, as Celebrini is eligible to come off the injured reserve after just three more Sharks games if everything goes well, and while that's not confirmed to be his timeline, there is optimism that he'll be back very, very soon. At 18-years old, Celebrini managed to deal with the hype and the expectations coming into his first game, and with the Sharks looking very competitive in that matchup, it gives Sharks fans something to look forward too.
Hopefully Celebrini can get back to 100% in the very near future and get back on the ice, and if that's the case, he'll remain in what's expected to be a very heated race for the Calder Trophy this season, and if he continues playing like he did in his debut, he'll have every chance to win the award in year one.
