What Macklin Celebrini said about his big contract, the Sharks' captaincy and Will Smith

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Considering the aggressive moves general manager Mike Grier made this summer to try upgrading the roster, Macklin Celebrini feels strongly that the San Jose Sharks are fully capable of making the playoffs this upcoming season.

Celebrini also believes that even when his massive five-year, $94 million contract extension he signed in July kicks in next summer, Grier and the Sharks will still have the flexibility needed to keep San Jose’s young core together and be competitive for the long term.

“That was at the front of my mind throughout the whole negotiation,” Celebrini said Thursday in his first public comments since signing the extension, which, barring a bigger deal, will carry a league-high $18.8 million average annual value once it begins in 2027-28.

“I wanted to make sure that with where the cap was going, that the number made sense for the team first and foremost, making sure that everyone can get paid, and that we’re in a good spot to build the way we want to build.

“I felt like we kind of landed on that number.”

The Sharks aren’t complaining.

Celebrini, 20, established himself as one of the NHL’s top players during a spectacular 2025-26 in which he nearly led the team to a playoff spot and was fourth in the league in scoring with 115 points, breaking the Sharks’ single-season record of 114 set by Joe Thornton in 2006-07.

With his production, Celebrini scored or assisted on 46.2% of the Sharks’ goals. When he had a point, the Sharks were 37-18-5; when he didn’t, they were 2-17-3. San Jose finished with 86 points, just four points out of a playoff spot after finishing the previous two years in last place.

It was clear a huge deal was in the offing, and Celebrini’s new contract will account for 16.6% of the $113.5 million salary cap when it begins next season. Celebrini and his agent, Pat Brisson, could have asked for up to 20% of this season’s $104 million cap, or an AAV of $20.8 million, but left $2 million on the table.

Celebrini’s deal will continue to take up less cap space in the coming years. After rising to at least $123 million in 2028-29, the cap is expected to increase dramatically again in 2029-30 and beyond.

“It was something I wanted to get done this summer,” Celebrini said. “I didn’t really want to wait until next summer and have it hanging over my head all year. I think it worked out, and I’m thankful for everyone that we worked to get it done this summer.”

Celebrini said he won’t feel any extra pressure to perform with the new deal.

“I don’t think anything really externally will affect the way I play or who I am,” he said. “I just don’t see anything like that changing the way I play the game or the approach that I take.”

The Sharks, per PuckPedia, have over $30 million in available cap space for the 2027-28 season. A good chunk of that, though, will likely be taken up with new deals given to top-line forward Will Smith and projected No. 1 goalie Yaroslav Askarov, both of whom can become restricted free agents next summer.

Smith has been Celebrini’s linemate for most of the last two years and was the Sharks’ second-leading scorer last season with 59 points in 69 games. The two will also be living together this season after finding a house, although the details on who will do the cooking and cleaning still need to be determined.

They can probably afford to hire some help. Considering where the cap is going and what players like Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson ($18 million AAV) and Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard ($15 million AAV) received as they came out of their own entry-level contracts, Smith could command a deal that is worth well north of $10 million annually.

Smith is eligible for an extension right now, and Celebrini obviously wants to see his good friend be in a Sharks uniform for several more years.

“I think everyone in our room hopes he’s here for a long time,” Celebrini said of Smith, who has 43 goals and 104 points in 143 career NHL games. “It’s not really my business. I think that that’s something that they’ve got to sort out, but for sure, I’m hoping that that gets done.”

Celebrini got back to the Bay Area on Monday after an offseason that included captaining Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in May in Switzerland, and watching Canada play in the World Cup in his hometown of Vancouver.

It also included a lot of training and skating, so much so that Grier even reached out to Celebrini to tell him to slow it down a bit.

“I still have a lot of space to grow,” Celebrini said when asked what he wants to improve. “I think in my game and off the ice, I feel like just kind of growing into myself as hopefully a leader for this team. We have a great group of vets that have been amazing and helped guide all of us young guys (to) be the best kind of role models.

“Just overall, just kind of growing on and off the ice, just keep building. I know that our whole team is excited for this year and the possibility to make the playoffs.”

Does Celebrini feel he’s ready to be the Sharks’ captain? He said that’s up to Grier.

“I feel I’m comfortable with myself and how I lead,” Celebrini said, “and I don’t think it’d really change anything in the way I approach every day and do stuff.”

Celebrini has been at Sharks Ice this week, taking part in informal skates with a handful of his teammates, including new defensemen Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba.

In a bid to improve the back end, Grier on July 1 signed the 6-3, 212-pound Trouba to an eye-opening four-year, $33 million deal, then acquired the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Nurse from Edmonton as part of a deal that sent Shakir Mukhamadullin to the Oilers. The Sharks also acquired Michael Kesselring from the Buffalo Sabres in late June and signed him to a three-year extension.

The Sharks hope those additions, along with the signing of veteran winger Mason Marchment to a five-year, $33.75 million deal, can propel them to their first playoff appearance since 2019.

Still, for the most part, the Sharks now have their nucleus together, with the biggest part, Celebrini, signed on for five more seasons after this one.

“I think we’re all really excited with where we’re going and what we’re building,” Celebrini said of the five-year term. “So just kind of keeping a little bit more flexibility for everyone, and it’s not really a bad thing. I’m committed to this team and this organization.”