No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini’s first official practice with the San Jose Sharks provided a needed bit of optimism for a franchise that has had little success in recent years.

The Macklin Celebrini era for the San Jose Sharks got off to a fast start on Thursday. The forward, selected No. 1 by the Sharks in the 2024 NHL Draft, said he enjoyed the rigorous pace of his first NHL practice set by new coach Ryan Warsofsky.

The San Jose Sharks had an abysmal season in 2023-24 but got a great reward. They picked Hobey Baker Award winner Macklin Celebrini with the first-overall pick to kickstart their rebuild. He made his training camp debut on Thursday and impressed the veterans on his team,

The top prospect was on a line with Klim Kostin and Tyler Toffoli during drills and the scrimmage portion of camp. During most shifts of the scrimmage, Celebrini commanded the puck and created plays for his linemates to score goals.

The Sharks didn’t play Celebrini in Sunday’s rookie game contest against Anaheim, and there’s a strong possibility that he won’t suit up in another game until sometime during the preseason. Friday’s showing was enough for club officials to readily see that he’s already at a notch about his peers.

San Jose Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini earned high praise from TSN's Craig Button. View the original article to see embedded media. Button appeared on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and was asked about the Sharks star prospect.