When the puck is dropped between the San Jose Sharks and Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, it will be the first showcasing between the league’s two most prolific rookies, Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov.
Celebrini, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft is the consensus favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy this season, which is awarded to the NHL’s best rookie, with Michkov owning the second-best odds.
Both are tied for the league lead in goals scored by a rookie.
As far as Celebrini is concerned, none of this bears any real-estate in his mind while the Sharks live in the cellar of the NHL, ranking in last place of the Pacific Division with 28 points two games away from the season’s halfway checkpoint.
When prompted about the race for the Calder, the 18-year-old deflected and focused on how the Sharks need to start winning, as reported by NBC Sports reporter Sheng Peng.
Celebrini, on the Calder Trophy race: “I want to stop losing.”
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) December 30, 2024
“I don’t really know. It’s cool for the outside people [who] look at it and compare it, but I just want to stop losing,” Celebrini said. “I just want to keep playing the way I’m playing. That doesn’t really affect anything I do.”
This story is being updated…
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