Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Colby Cohen expects Macklin Celebrini to be special — both on and off the ice.
The ESPN college hockey analyst saw it up close, covering the Boston University freshman throughout his Hobey Baker Award-winning 2024 campaign.
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“He's about as sure a thing as you can have,” Cohen told the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast about the Sharks’ 2024 No. 1 pick last week. “There is no such thing in the draft, but watching him as much as I have, I've never been so confident.”
On the ice, Cohen believes Celebrini will be in the Calder Trophy conversation immediately.
“I think that he's going to have a similarly productive year that Connor Bedard had," Cohen predicts. "I think that we're going to see him in more situations probably than Connor Bedard was seen in. I think you're going to see him kill penalties at some point. Connor Bedard is a little more deficient in his defensive game, [though] he's a little bit higher end offensively.”
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Bedard, the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick, led all NHL rookies with 22 goals and 61 points last year, winning the Calder Trophy.
Long-term, Celebrini’s most common comps have been future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby and Jonathan Toews … and Cohen didn’t shy away from the hype.
“Maybe he plays the game faster than Jonathan?” Cohen suggested. “He's like a hybrid of the two.”
Crosby actually reminds Cohen most of Celebrini.
“He doesn't cheat for offense, and when do you find a teenager that doesn't cheat for offense? It doesn't happen,” Cohen said. “Sidney Crosby is probably the closest example to a guy who just never cheated for offense.”
Celebrini’s well-rounded game also reminds Cohen of the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar.
“Tell me what Crosby's best at? The answer is everything." Cohen mused. "If you put my feet to the fire and you say what is Macklin's best trait? I don't know the answer to that. Because everything, he does everything at the top, at the best level.”
Toews was a point-per-game center, a regular Selke Trophy contender. Crosby is the most iconic player of his generation, a perennial Hart Trophy contender.
That’s asking a lot of Celebrini — and Cohen expects even more than on-the-ice greatness.
Off the ice, Celebrini passes the “Draft Day” test.
In the 2014 movie, Kevin Costner plays fictitious Cleveland Browns GM Sonny Weaver Jr. On the eve of the NFL draft, Weaver trades for the No. 1 overall pick, presumably to select consensus top quarterback Bo Callahan.
But when, among other revelations, Weaver learns that none of Callahan’s college teammates attended his 21st birthday? Weaver passes on Callahan for the No. 1 pick.
No such concerns for the 2024 first-overall selection, who attended BU as a freshman last year.
“He was so loved [by] his teammates, half the team flew to Vegas to watch him get drafted,” Cohen said, mentioning 2021 Edmonton Oilers’ sixth-rounder Shane Lachance and 2022 Philadelphia Flyers’ third-rounder Devin Kaplan, for example. “They went all out there just to hang and be with Macklin.”
Celebrini was the only Terrier selected in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Cohen, a BU alum himself, got a first-hand look at Celebrini’s relationship with his teammates, when he had pre-game meals with Terrier coaches before covering their games on ESPN.
“[He] acted like a normal college kid. One of the guys. He didn't isolate,” Cohen said, of a special player who didn’t act special. “When the guys went out to have a good time, he was there. When guys went to team meals and went to people's houses, he was there.
“He was a good teammate, he didn't act bigger than the team. Rookies are supposed to pick up pucks [after practice], he's picking up pucks. The freshmen are staying out late, he did all those things.”
Celebrini’s magnetism does remind Cohen of Crosby and Toews.
“I physically witnessed this time and time again, how other players gravitated to him,” Cohen shared.
But he’s still just 18.
“The leadership skills, will he grow into that type of leader? That remains to be seen,” Cohen said. “Those two guys, they were born to lead.”
For example? Cohen just saw Toews at a wedding recently.
“Even when we're at a wedding, like full of hockey players, people are drawn to him, they follow him,” Cohen said. “They want to know, 'Hey, there's this funky dress code for this wedding, what are you going to wear?' ”
Like Bo Callahan’s birthday party, it’s a seemingly minor but telling anecdote.
“It doesn't matter what these natural-born leaders do in life, people just follow them,” Cohen said.
That’s a high bar for Celebrini. But it says something about him, that for Cohen and many other hockey people, Crosby and Toews are the most common comps.
“Those are the two backbones of a lot of Stanley Cups.” Cohen believes that the Sharks might say that about Celebrini one day.