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NHL Notebook: Macklin Celebrini signs record-setting extension with Sharks

Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

By Zach Laing

Jul 29, 2026, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 29, 2026, 13:28 EDT

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Macklin Celebrini won’t be leaving San Jose anytime soon.

The Sharks announced Wednesday morning that they had signed their superstar centre to a five-year deal paying him an annual average value of $18.8 million. When the extension kicks in for the 2027-28 season, he will be the highest-paid player in the league.

“In just two seasons as a teenager in the National Hockey League and on the International stage, Macklin has established himself as one of the premier players in the world,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in a statement. “We are extremely excited to have him secured and committed as the centerpiece (sic) of a core of talented players in San Jose.

“As we continue our goal of building a team capable of annually competing for the Stanley Cup, we want to thank Macklin and his representatives for a respectful negotiation process, and acknowledge the flexibility they have provided to the team in how we allocate future dollars towards the team being constructed around Macklin.”

In just two years, Celebrini has quickly established himself as one of the National Hockey League’s premier players through his first two years, scoring 70 goals and 178 points in 152 games. Drafted first overall by the Sharks in the 2024 draft, he is fresh off a breakout season, having scored 45 goals and 115 points in 82 games, finishing fourth in the league in scoring.

His breakout came internationally, too, representing Canada at the Olympics, where he scored five goals and 10 points in six games, and at the IIHF World Championship, where he was named captain, becoming the second-youngest player to wear the ‘C’ for the country. He racked up an impressive 14 points across 10 games.

A staggering $89.1 million of the contract’s $94 million total value will be paid out in signing bonuses, according to PuckPedia, with Celebrini receiving $19.850 million in bonuses in each of the first two years, $19.8 million in the third year, then $16.1 million and $13.5 million in each of the final two years, respectively.

While the contract doesn’t carry any movement clauses until a full no-move kicks in for the fifth year, it’s hard to imagine the Sharks being willing to part with a player of his talents.

Extension talks between Senators, Batherson stall due to ‘wide’ gap

As Drake Batherson enters the final season of a six-year deal with the Ottawa Senators, the “gap remains wide” between the two sides, the Ottawa Citizen’s Bruce Garrioch reported Tuesday.

While Batherson, 28, will earn $4.975 million next year, Garrioch says league executives are expecting him to earn a big raise.

Batherson, who is entering the final season of a six-year deal worth $4.95 million U.S. annually, is expected by league executives to command as much as $10 million to $11 million per year on the open market. While Senators president of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios has opened discussions on an extension, league sources told the Ottawa Citizen they believe the two sides “aren’t close” to an agreement.

Batherson has become a key cog in the Senators organization, and will doubly so with Brady Tkachuk having been traded to the Florida Panthers. He posted career highs in goals (33) and points (71) last year, having scored at least 22 goals in each of the last four seasons. Over that stretch, which has seen him break out offensively, he’s racked up 109 goals and 267 points in 325 games.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s managing editor and The Nation Network’s news director. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.

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