SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Jose Sharks teenage sensation Macklin Celebrini is open to signing a contract extension this summer after breaking the franchise record for points in a season in just his second year in the NHL.
Celebrini has one year remaining on the three-year, $2.925 million entry-level contract he signed after being drafted first overall in 2024. He is eligible to become a restricted free agent after next season but can sign an extension any time after July 1.
“I’m just open to every possibility,” Celebrini said Saturday at locker clean out day. There’s nothing really that goes into it. It goes hand in hand with me. I want to commit to this team and being here. I love it here. I’m open to whatever happens."
Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, this is the last summer that players remaining with their own team can sign extensions for eight years. Starting in September, those deals will be limited to seven years.
Celebrini said he hadn't thought about whether he was interested in a long or short-term deal.
“The season just ended. I haven’t really thought about anything like that,” he said.
Celebrini said he has talked to 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks about the approach. Bedard opted not to sign an extension last summer and will be eligible to be a restricted free agent this summer.
“Connor and I are pretty good friends,” Celebrini said. “I talked to him a little bit just about his situation. He approached it differently, and every guy’s situation is going to be a little bit different.”
Celebrini is coming off one of the greatest seasons ever for a teenager, even if it wasn't enough to send the Sharks to the playoffs. San Jose missed the postseason for a seventh straight season, finishing four points out of the second wild-card spot.
Celebrini had 45 goals and 70 assists with his 115 points breaking Joe Thornton's franchise record of 114 set in 2006-07 and trailing Wayne Gretzky (137 in 1979-80) and Sidney Crosby (120 in 2006-07) for the most in a season for a player before turning 20.
Celebrini's performance generated frequent “M-V-P!” chants from the crowd at the Shark Tank. Celebrini has a chance to be a finalist for the Hart Trophy given to the league's MVP alongside players such as Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov.
“Those are the guys that I’m looking to to learn from and watch them,” Celebrini said. “They’ve been around for 10-plus years so they’re the guys when I was a kid I was watching and even now I’m still trying to learn them and see what makes them successful. That would be pretty cool.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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