Macklin Celebrini
Celebrini is San Jose's first-line center and top power-play driver, and the wire note about a game-time decision is stale: he returned from that lower-body injury on Oct. 10 and has been playing since.
Role
Inside the Rink's Nov. 2 preview for Calgary projects Will Smith, Celebrini and Collin Graf on line 1. The same page has him on power-play unit 1 with Marchment, Smith, Stenberg and Orlov. Its Oct. 31 preview had Stenberg, Celebrini and Graf on line 1. That page lists his last two games at 22:56 and 19:43 of ice time. Michael Misa centers line 2 and is the nearest center behind him. I could not fetch a Daily Faceoff page, so the lines come from dated previews and not a live board. Our supplied stat line (13 GP, 295 TOI) is labeled last season but conflicts with NHL.com's 82 games and 115 points last year. I have used neither figure.
He is the captain and the engine of the team's best offense. NHL.com has him at 115 points in 82 games last season, fourth in the league. The Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 previews cite Box Score Junkie numbers of about 56.5% Corsi-for and 7.8 high-danger expected goals generated with him on the ice. In the Oct. 10 return game he scored. He also holds a power-play spot on every projected unit I found. Sharks coverage said the team looked lost defensively without him, and his Oct. 10 return suggested the injury was not long-term.
The injury was something the team had been managing for some time, and its exact nature has not been disclosed beyond lower body. He missed two games in October, and I found no newer injury update. His linemates keep changing. A San Jose Hockey Now writer said Celebrini had a slow start at 5-on-5 before linemate Chernyshov was hurt, and Chernyshov's injury has removed a regular winger. The Sharks also lost 5-0 in Dallas and are a middling 6-5-1 as of the Oct. 28 preview, which limits team scoring support.
Where analysts split
The open question is who plays with Celebrini at even strength, and whether Warsofsky keeps him with Will Smith. Sharks Hockey Digest reported a split against Buffalo, with Stenberg and Graf on Celebrini's wings and Smith moved to line 2 with Misa. A San Jose Hockey Now item on the Canucks game said the Celebrini-Smith line was reunited, and the Nov. 2 preview has them together again. The two stayed together on power-play unit 1 through all of this. I found no analyst disputing his role itself.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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