For the first time since forming a dominant line together at the Winter Olympics, Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini will face each other as opponents.

With the 2024 first-overall pick riding shotgun, McDavid led the Olympic tournament with 13 points in six games, earning MVP honours despite Canada falling to the United States in the gold medal game. Though he was the youngest player on the roster, the 19-year-old Celebrini looked anything but overwhelmed. He led the Olympics with five goals and set a tournament record for scoring by a teenager in the process.

After Celebrini opened Canada’s scoring against Czechia, McDavid had high praise: “I can’t say enough good things about that kid. He’s so, so impressive. At 19 years old, he’s a great, young player, not just because he’s so good with the puck, but all the little things he does, the hard work he puts into the game.”

McDavid emphasized that Celebrini plays “not a typical teenager game,” noting that he’s strong along the wall, wins battles, and plays a heavy style. He described him as a “dog on a bone” in puck pursuit.

Back in the NHL, Celebrini’s Sharks are losing ground in the Western Conference race. A five-game losing streak has dropped San Jose five points behind the final wild-card spot. They’re coming off a 4-1 home loss to Calgary and are in urgent need of momentum.

1. The Sharks opened the season with a six-game losing streak and appeared poised for another year of paying attention to prospects and lottery odds. They turned their fortunes around with a nine-win month of November and continued their strong play into December and January, moving up into a playoff spot as the calendar switched to 2026.

Things have gone sideways for San Jose since the team embarked on a five-game road trip before the Olympic break. They opened the trip with a win in Vancouver, then sprinted out to a 3-0 first-period lead in Edmonton a couple of nights later. The Oilers responded with three goals in the second before winning the game in overtime.

That blown lead seemed to suck the wind out of the young team’s sails. After Edmonton, the Sharks lost in Calgary, Chicago, and Colorado, and they dropped their first game out of the break at home to the Flames. San Jose’s losing streak is now at five games, which is one shy of the season-high six-game skid they had coming out of the gates.

2. The last time San Jose made the playoffs was 2018-19, when Logan Couture, Brent Burns, and Erik Karlsson led them to the Western Conference Final. The only remaining player from that run is Barclay Goodrow, reacquired off waivers in 2024 after winning two Cups in Tampa Bay.

Over six years out of the playoffs, the Sharks have completely overhauled their roster and have built a strong core of young talent through the draft. San Jose made 18 selections in the first two rounds over the past six drafts, adding skilled players like William Eklund, Will Smith, Michael Misa, and Sam Dickinson to the fold.

3. The prize of San Jose’s rebuild came when they won the Macklin Celebrini lottery following a 19-54-9 debacle in 2023-24. With their first-ever first-overall pick in team history, the Sharks landed themselves a franchise-changing prospect.

In his pre-draft season, the North Vancouver native scored 32 goals and 64 points in 38 games for Boston University, becoming the youngest player ever to win the NCAA’s Hobey Baker Award at just 17 years of age. Previously, the youngest player to win the honour was Jack Eichel, who did so in 2014-15 at the age of 18.

4. Celebrini led the Sharks with 63 points in 70 games as a rookie in 2024-25, finishing third in Calder Trophy voting behind defenceman Lane Hutson and goaltender Dustin Wolf. San Jose finished the year with a 20-50-12 record, nowhere close to playoff contention despite the young star’s efforts.

The Sharks were busy in the off-season trying to give Celebrini some veteran help. They signed Dmitry Orlov and John Klingberg to lead the blueline, they added Adam Gaudette, Jeff Skinner, and Ryan Reaves up front, and they acquired Alex Nedeljkovic to share the net with Yaroslav Askarov.

San Jose has taken a big step forward this season, thanks largely to a Hart Trophy-calibre performance from Celebrini, who leads the team with 28 goals and 81 points through 56 games. The next-highest scoring player in both categories is Smith, who has 17 goals and less than half as many points as Celebrini at 39.

5. Though his 19-year-old season has been very impressive, Celebrini will be in tough to actually win the Hart Trophy in his sophomore year.

Connor McDavid leads the league with 100 points in 60 games, putting him on pace for 136 points. Nikita Kucherov isn’t far behind with 95 points through 65 games, and his Tampa Bay Lightning are tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Nathan MacKinnon, a sometimes linemate of McDavid and Celebrini, leads the league with 40 goals and is only five points back of the league lead. His Colorado Avalanche have the best record in the NHL.

6. Coming off an 8-1 pounding over the L.A. Kings on Thursday, the Oilers sit third in the Pacific Division with a 29-23-8 record. Edmonton is one point back of the Ducks for second and Anaheim has two games in hand. The Vegas Golden Knights are leading the way, four points up with one game in hand on the Oilers.

The Seattle Kraken currently occupy the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, only three points back of the Oilers with two games in hand. The Kings are three points back of the Kraken with the same amount of games played, while the Sharks are five points behind with a couple of games in hand.